gridlock
gridlock
noun
/ˈɡrɪdlɒk/
uncountable, countable
1 ​a situation in which there are so many cars in the streets of a town that the traffic cannot move at all
It’s gridlock between 6.30 and 9.00.
The protest march created gridlock.
roads that are prone to gridlocks
TOPICS Transport by car or lorry C2
2 ​(usually in politics) a situation in which people with different opinions are not able to agree with each other and so no action can be taken
Congress is in gridlock.
TOPICS Opinion and argument C2
Word Origin
1980s (originally US): from grid (in sense (1)) + lock ‘become rigidly fixed’.