gridlock

1 of 2

noun

grid·lock ˈgrid-ˌläk

: a traffic jam in which a grid of intersecting streets is so completely congested that no vehicular movement is possible

: a situation resembling gridlock (as in congestion or lack of movement)

political gridlock

gridlock

2 of 2

verb

gridlocked; gridlocking; gridlocks

transitive + intransitive

: to cause to be in a state or situation in which movement or progress is stopped completely : to produce gridlock in or of

streets gridlocked by heavy traffic

a government gridlocked by partisan rancor

Neighbors of the proposed site near the intersection … told commissioners they were concerned the school would bring hundreds of additional cars to the area, further gridlocking already bumper-to-bumper traffic.—

Kyra Gurney

Almost immediately, heavy rains had gridlocked the narrow supply trail from Siboney on the coast.—

Michael Blow

also : to experience gridlock

This statement came while Congress gridlocked yet again on a campaign finance measure. —

David Corn

Examples of gridlock in a Sentence

Noun An accident caused gridlock at rush hour yesterday. We were caught in a gridlock. Disagreements about funding have caused legislative gridlock in Congress.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Noun

The measure, signed Jan. 4, won bipartisan support in both chambers and broke through the partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C., with provisions to support hunting, fishing, climbing and other sports. —

Jeremy Duda, Axios, 28 Jan. 2025 Congestion pricing’s first month has offered New Yorkers plenty of immediate ways to measure its impact: their E-ZPass bills, the decrease in honk-inducing gridlock outside their windows, the number of exclamation points in a bridge-and-tunnel uncle’s Facebook posts. —

Dan Greene, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025

Verb

Cincinnati Just as a three- or four-team tie atop the Big 12 feels likely, so, too, does gridlock in the cellar. —

Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2025 Angling for position, the taxis engage in a series of polite reversals and turns that quickly gives way to gridlock. —

Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for gridlock