logjam

[lawg-jam, log-]

See more synonyms for logjam on Thesaurus.com

noun

an immovable pileup or tangle of logs, as in a river, causing a blockage.
any blockage or massive accumulation: a logjam of bills before Congress.

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Origin of logjam

First recorded in 1880–85; log¹ + jam¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for logjam

Contemporary Examples

As the story that broke the logjam, "Birthday Boy" is a fascinating read.
What the Leaked J.D. Salinger Stories Reveal About the Author
Andrew Romano
November 30, 2013
But with a bipartisan alliance of radicals in Washington, the logjam of political dysfunction will finally be broken.
Why The Zombie Tea Party Won’t Stay Dead
James Poulos
October 24, 2013
And he had broken ground on Porto Açu, a massive deepwater port meant to break the logjam of Brazilian shipping.
The Brutal Fall of Brazilian Billionaire Eike Batista
Mac Margolis
June 25, 2013
The way to break this logjam is to crush the Republicans on taxes.
Third-Party Delusions
Michael Tomasky
October 11, 2011
Maybe it really will get Republicans to move on tax expenditures and break the logjam.
The Untransformational President
Michael Tomasky
July 8, 2011

Historical Examples

Rather wud I have perished in a logjam thin to've indured this ingratichood.
Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War
Finley Peter Dunne

Word Origin and History for logjam

n.

also log-jam, "congestion of logs on a river," by 1851, American English; see log (n.1) + jam (v.). The figurative sense is by 1890.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper