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
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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.
Nations frustrated at the COP gridlock have sought progress elsewhere.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
The above chart summarizes the correlation since 1945 of the market’s return and the presence or absence of gridlock.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Lagos, one of Africa's largest and busiest cities, is infamous for its long traffic jams that cause gridlock and hamper business activity.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
For the past 36 years, a firm cap on car ownership has kept Singapore largely free of the gridlock that marks life in every other Southeast Asian metropolis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Border police were swamped, trying in vain to ease the gridlock by dividing traffic into four lanes.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
