impasse

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noun im·passe \ ˈim-ˌpas , im-ˈpas \

Definition of impasse

1 a :a predicament affording no obvious escape

b :deadlock

2 :an impassable road or way :cul-de-sac

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Examples of impasse in a Sentence

The players are poised to strike after Thursday's games because they believe, with good reason, that if no agreement is reached by the end of the post-season, the owners will declare an impasse … —Murray Chass, New York Times, 9 Aug. 1994
We seem to have been forced into an impasse. We need to understand why space-time singularities have the structures that they appear to have; but space-time singularities are regions where our understanding of physics has reached its limits. —Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind, 1989
I think the civil rights movement in its early and middle years offered the best way out of America's racial impasse: in this society, race must not be a source of advantage or disadvantage for anyone. —Shelby Steele, Harper's, June 1988
An arbitrator was called in to break the impasse.
She had reached an impasse in her career.

Recent Examples of impasse from the Web

At public universities, officials and workers say some doctors and dentists, particularly those outside an insurance plan's provider network, increasingly asked patients to pick up the state's tab during the impasse.

— dawn rhodes, chicagotribune.com, "Illinois budget backlog is giving health care providers, patients a headache," 27 July 2017
The failure of both options has highlighted the deep divide running through the G.O.P. caucus, which is at an impasse over reforming the country’s $3 trillion heath-care system.

— isobel thompson, The Hive, "The G.O.P.’s Trumpcare Charade Enters the Death Spiral," 27 July 2017
Crenson tracks argument and impasse, action and stalemate over more than a century.

— dan rodricks, baltimoresun.com, "Rodricks: The great Baltimore swine debate," 15 July 2017
For Buffett, the impending impasse marks yet another attempt to tackle Energy Future.

— sridhar natarajan and katherine chiglinsky, star-telegram, "In bid for Oncor, Warren Buffett must beat out a hedge fund king," 14 July 2017
The adoption impasse is a frequently used talking point for opponents of the Magnitsky Act.

— jo becker, matt apuzzo, adam goldman, Alaska Dispatch News, "Trump team met with lawyer linked to Kremlin during campaign," 8 July 2017
In the end, France made a series of demands that the Americans were not willing to meet, and the two countries reached an impasse.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "This Unremembered US-France ‘Quasi War’ Shaped Early America’s Foreign Relations," 8 July 2017
Some local Independence Day holiday traffic safety events were canceled due to the state's budget impasse, but state and local officials say the passage of a new budget should restore the processing of federal grants for such efforts.

— jim newton, Lake County News-Sun, "With new state budget, grant funding returns for traffic enforcement programs," 7 July 2017
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will fly Monday to Kuwait in an attempt to resolve the impasse over Qatar’s dispute with its Arab neighbors.

— j. weston phippen, The Atlantic, "U.S. Fears Dispute Over Qatar Will Intensify," 7 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'impasse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of impasse

French, from in- + passer to pass

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First Known Use: 1851

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impasse Synonyms

Synonyms

deadlock, gridlock, halt, logjam, Mexican standoff, stalemate, standoff, standstill

Related Words

dead end; bind, bottleneck, corner, dilemma, fix, hole, jam, morass, pickle, pinch, plight, predicament, quagmire, quandary, spot; difficulty; problem

IMPASSE Defined for English Language Learners

impasse

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noun

Definition of impasse for English Language Learners

: a situation in which no progress seems possible

Law Dictionary

impasse

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noun im·passe \ ˈim-ˌpas, im-ˈpas \

legal Definition of impasse

:a point in especially labor negotiations at which reaching an agreement is impossible because neither party is willing to compromise or change position

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