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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as in to fill
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gridlock
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
Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 29 July 2025
Evers applauded the ruling and said Republicans have been allowed to overstep their power and cause gridlock by holding up administrative rules for years.
—Anna Kleiber, jsonline.com, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for gridlock
Noun
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
Verb
Waikiki traffic quickly became a gridlock of cars trying to leave the beachside neighborhood, while some residents reported long lines at gas stations.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 29 July 2025
Evers applauded the ruling and said Republicans have been allowed to overstep their power and cause gridlock by holding up administrative rules for years.
—Anna Kleiber, jsonline.com, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for gridlock
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gridlock
Noun
-
While the lawyers’ work stoppage continues to grind the gears of justice to a halt, Hayden says that his office is doing their best to move forward with their own work.—
Matthew Medsger,
Boston Herald,
7 Aug. 2025
-
After kicking off its first season in 2011, the show was brought to a halt in 2013, until the series was successfully rebooted in 2021.—
McKinley Franklin,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Ever wondered how social media platforms decide how to fill our feeds?—
Noah Giansiracusa,
Time,
7 Aug. 2025
-
The gaming community was hit with another delay of Grand Theft Auto 6 earlier this year and that means those who were hoping to spend the fall months stealing cars and evading the police are needing something to fill that void.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza war and a deal for the release of half the hostages ended last week in deadlock.—
Emily Rose,
USA Today,
3 Aug. 2025
-
At the same time, the latest deadlock in Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release talks is likely to further prolong the conflict, which continues to rage on in Gaza.—
Tom O'Connor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 July 2025
Verb
-
Carlin Karr, director of wine and beverage at Stuckey’s restaurants — including Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder — believes roughly 1 in 10 wine bottles are off in taste, or corked.—
Jeremy Harlan,
CNN Money,
16 July 2025
-
Public opposition to the fee helped cork the proposal.—
Sarah Scoles,
JSTOR Daily,
11 June 2025
Noun
-
Several designers in the Design Museum survey call attention to this impasse with absurdism.—
Jonathon Keats,
Forbes.com,
4 Aug. 2025
-
The impasse on legislation started to break in 2018, along with Colorado’s purple reputation.—
Nick Coltrain,
Denver Post,
3 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Historically, the region itself was created by the natural flooding and silting processes of the Mississippi River, which flows across the breadth of the state before spilling into the Gulf of America.—
David Blackmon,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2025
-
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
Noun
-
Cruz wanted to bring Congress to a standstill by engineering a government shutdown in a bid to defund Obamacare, aka the Affordable Care Act.—
David M. Drucker,
Mercury News,
12 Aug. 2025
-
This year, with humanitarian distress higher, the country has received just 6.7 percent of an already bare-bones UN appeal for $612 million, with American aid practically at a standstill.—
Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Berhe,
Foreign Affairs,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The accompanying clip shows row upon row of flower arrangements arrayed on the floor after BID workers carefully removed them from the bridge and packed them in plastic bins.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
7 Aug. 2025
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Republican candidate for governor Bill Berrien worked the crowd at the Wisconsin State Fair Exposition Center on August 6 — and packed his day with reporter interviews.—
Mary Spicuzza,
jsonline.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gridlock.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gridlock. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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