as in halts
a point in a struggle where neither side is capable of winning or willing to give in
the jury sent a note to the judge that it was hopelessly stuck in a deadlock
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Recent Examples of deadlocks
Having killed Downey, Amos cuts one of his deadlocks and puts it in Axel’s little red book.
—
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2025
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for reform of the Security Council's permanent members in his annual statement on the anniversary of the United Nations charter, arguing that the current establishment excludes key global voices and suffers from too many deadlocks.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Twice in recent years, the board spent months facing regular partisan deadlocks — first after Nathan Fletcher resigned in 2023 and again after Nora Vargas left office early this year.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2025
Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2025
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for reform of the Security Council's permanent members in his annual statement on the anniversary of the United Nations charter, arguing that the current establishment excludes key global voices and suffers from too many deadlocks.
—Peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Twice in recent years, the board spent months facing regular partisan deadlocks — first after Nathan Fletcher resigned in 2023 and again after Nora Vargas left office early this year.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deadlocks
Noun
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Conflict in Yemen has prompted air traffic halts — leaving about 600 tourists stranded on a remote island.—
Ashley J. DiMella,
FOXNews.com,
6 Jan. 2026
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The fact that any soliloquy halts dramatic action also poses a challenge.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
15 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Some of the money is frozen due to budgetary or legal impasses.—
Caio Delcolli,
IndieWire,
26 Nov. 2025
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Such impasses typically end when one party decides the political costs of keeping the government closed outweigh the concessions of opening it.—
Prashant Rao,
semafor.com,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deadlocks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deadlocks. Accessed 22 Jan. 2026.
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