gridlock 1 of 2

as in halt
a point in a struggle where neither side is capable of winning or willing to give in with the White House controlled by one party and Congress by the other, the nation experienced four years of legislative gridlock

Synonyms & Similar Words

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gridlock

2 of 2

verb

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of gridlock
Noun
With the ability to produce content cheaply and distribute it directly to audiences, Barrett and company have an aversion to Hollywood gridlock. Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 6 Feb. 2025 The new ramp will not only help ease gridlock, but also foster future growth in the western parts of Broward County, officials say. Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2025
Verb
Their effort has been criticized as a road to gridlock while, in the aftermath instead, a summer of litigation and investigation of actions has played out. Alan Wooten | The Center Square, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 13 Aug. 2024 Hitler exploited his 37% to gridlock legislative processes, to cudgel or crush the political opposition, and ultimately to undermine the country’s democratic structures. Timothy Ryback, TIME, 26 Apr. 2024 See All Example Sentences for gridlock
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gridlock
Noun
  • Rather than dwell on this possibility, or call for a halt to further investments until the federal funding picture resolves, supervisors instead took turns bidding Bergmann farewell and welcoming acting director Nadia Privara.
    Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2025
  • More than 1,000 clinical trials have come to a halt across the country and world, ranging from cardiovascular disease treatment to HIV prevention, to childhood and adult cancer treatment.
    Gordon G. Chang, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Disinformation will fill every gap.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025
  • Because the Kremlin is already filling the void.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The deadlock spares Nichols, again, from a death sentence.
    Todd Pendleton, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025
  • Davison broke that deadlock with a tough driving layup.
    Zack Cox, Hartford Courant, 13 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The brash freshman who spent much of the season bragging to teammates about his power corked a bat to crush balls even farther.
    Chandler Rome, The Athletic, 20 Aug. 2024
  • Pair with a bottle of wine or corked beverage of choice for an even more elevated gift.
    Rachel Fletcher, Architectural Digest, 9 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • Key members of Mayor Adams’ staff, including Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry, ultimately helped finalize the deal after union leaders and the city’s Office of Labor Relations reached an impasse over pay and demands that sergeants start working 12-hour tours.
    Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 15 Apr. 2025
  • To break the impasse, the Speaker floated creating a conference committee with the Senate to hash out their differences, or adding an amendment to the budget resolution — two ideas that would throw a wrench into GOP leadership’s ambitious timeline to get a package to Trump’s desk.
    Mychael Schnell, The Hill, 10 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • For his big plan, Yu can use them along with geographic information system (GIS) and satellite imagery to track China’s landscape changes as urbanization spreads, as estuaries and deltas silt up, as water starts to move differently across landscapes and cityscapes.
    Erica Gies, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2018
  • All the while, the Guadalquivir River, which allowed ships into Seville, began to silt up, forcing trade southward to the coastal town of Cádiz.
    Walker Mimms, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2023
Noun
  • Then Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill and Florida still hasn't fully recovered.
    Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
  • With Trump’s reciprocal tariffs against dozens of U.S. trading partners due to hit Wednesday, the Wall Street investment bank sees gross domestic product growth coming to a near standstill and core inflation ending the year well above the central bank’s 2% target.
    Jeff Cox, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The formula is packed with hyaluronic acid to deeply hydrate and plump the skin, and it can be applied on its own or mixed into a moisturizer.
    Alanna Martine Kilkeary, Glamour, 10 Apr. 2025
  • Ironwood delivers higher throughput compared to previous Google Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), and Google really plans to pack these chips in.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 9 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Gridlock.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gridlock. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.

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