logjam
Americannoun
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an immovable pileup or tangle of logs, as in a river, causing a blockage.
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any blockage or massive accumulation.
a logjam of bills before Congress.
Etymology
Origin of logjam
Explanation
A logjam is just what it sounds like: a bunch of logs all jammed together, blocking the flow of water in a river or stream. You can also call other kinds of blockages logjams — like a traffic logjam that develops due to rubbernecking drivers trying to check out a crash. Logjams change the way water flows in a river, sometimes creating new channels and pools from the overflow of water. This can be good for spawning fish, but sometimes a logjam causes flooding and other problems. This has given rise to the figurative logjam, a problem that stops or blocks progress: "The disagreement caused a logjam in Congress until the President stepped in."
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.
Of course, there’s a big difference between being at a logjam atop the leaderboard on Friday and lifting the Harton S. Semple Trophy on Sunday.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
During the pandemic, “it became really clear to me that we had to take big steps and break the logjam on what had been going on with housing,” she says.
From Barron's • May 31, 2026
BMA resident doctor leader Dr Jack Fletcher said that Murray had wasted "a genuine opportunity to break this logjam with fresh energy and ambition".
From BBC • May 27, 2026
The S&P 500 is expensive on 18 of 20 metrics and a private-equity logjam could force big investors to dump stocks.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
Hastie was evidently determined to break the racial logjam in the War Department, yet unlike many civil rights advocates he seemed willing to pay the price of slow progress to obtain lasting improvement.
From Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 by MacGregor, Morris J.
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.
