grind to a halt

Idioms  

1. Also, come to a grinding halt. Gradually come to a standstill or end. For example, Once the funding stopped, the refurbishing project ground to a halt, or She's come to a grinding halt with that book she's writing. This expression alludes to a clogged engine that gradually stops or a ship that runs aground.

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Example Sentences

Unless the artificial-intelligence data center boom grinds to a halt, memory and storage chips will continue to see unprecedented shortages.

From Barron's

Residents have been enduring long electricity outages for years now as the island’s economy grinds to a halt.

From The Wall Street Journal

As the threat of attacks saw nightlife in the usually party-loving commercial hub grind to a halt, they decided they were not going to let the fun stop.

From Barron's

But even as oil-tanker traffic grinds to a halt, markets have remained surprisingly calm, thanks in part to massive stockpiles built up by the world’s largest oil importer—China.

From Barron's

Production across the economy is grinding to a halt.

From Salon