gridlock
Americannoun
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the stoppage of free vehicular movement in an urban area because key intersections are blocked by traffic.
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the blocking of an intersection by vehicular traffic entering the intersection but unable to pass through it.
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any situation in which nothing can move or proceed in any direction.
a financial gridlock due to high interest rates.
noun
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obstruction of urban traffic caused by queues of vehicles forming across junctions and causing further queues to form in the intersecting streets
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a point in a dispute at which no agreement can be reached; deadlock
political gridlock
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gridlock
Explanation
Gridlock is what happens when there's so much traffic on a road or highway that it slows to a stop. If your bus gets stalled in gridlock on the way to school, you'll be late for first period. While gridlock is commonly used as a synonym for a traffic jam, strictly speaking the term is more specific. During gridlock, traffic is backed up in different directions, so that lines of cars block several intersecting streets. In the worst gridlock, vehicles in the grid of streets are unable to move forward or to back up. Drivers can avoid this kind of gridlock by waiting to enter the intersection until there's room to move all the way through it.
Vocabulary lists containing gridlock
It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They see several positives ahead: a material acceleration in earnings in 2027; potential gridlock for midterm elections easing investor worries about healthcare and drug-policy uncertainty; and possible upside surprises from AI productivity improvements.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
For Beatrix, a 20-minute journey with her relative ended up being a long wait in gridlock, but despite the pressure she said her driving instructor would have been impressed with her performance.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
All of which risks tipping the delicate balance into chaos and gridlock, critics warn.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Demonstrators, many organising online outside of formal representative bodies, have also used convoys on motorways to snarl traffic and tractors to gridlock central Dublin on occasions.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
If we were stuck in gridlock, my mom would turn the car off and it was my job to get out and push it forward six inches at a time.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
