grind to a halt
idiom
of a machine
: to stop working or moving forward
The machinery slowly ground to a halt.
—often used figurativelyWithout more money, work on the project will soon grind to a halt.
Examples of grind to a halt in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This strikes me as a good opportunity to bounce back, given that Nottingham Forest’s mini-revival under Sean Dyche seems to have ground to a halt.
—
Oliver Kay, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2026
Iran’s once cunning and innovative foreign policy has ground to a halt, with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight as Western powers tighten the screws through relentless sanctions.
—Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 30 Dec. 2025
Except for 2020—the year of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw travel grind to a halt—the number of Thanksgiving air travelers over the past few years has hovered between 5 and 6 million, the automotive body said.
—Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Ticket sales nearly ground to a halt without any new releases, as well as the misfortune of the spooky holiday landing on Friday (meaning families were trick-or-treating, not visiting their local movie theater).
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 2 Nov. 2025
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Oliver Kay, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2026
Iran’s once cunning and innovative foreign policy has ground to a halt, with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight as Western powers tighten the screws through relentless sanctions.
—Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 30 Dec. 2025
Except for 2020—the year of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw travel grind to a halt—the number of Thanksgiving air travelers over the past few years has hovered between 5 and 6 million, the automotive body said.
—Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Ticket sales nearly ground to a halt without any new releases, as well as the misfortune of the spooky holiday landing on Friday (meaning families were trick-or-treating, not visiting their local movie theater).
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 2 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for grind to a halt
Cite this Entry
“Grind to a halt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grind%20to%20a%20halt. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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