as in halt
a point in a struggle where neither side is capable of winning or willing to give in
in the battle over bedtime the parents and their son are at a Mexican standoff
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Recent Examples of Mexican standoff
The top echelon of Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon has dissolved into a circle of mutual recrimination and enmity worthy of a Mexican standoff from a Quentin Tarantino film.
—
The Editors, National Review, 28 Apr. 2025
This week, Todd S. Purdum, a longtime political reporter for The New York Times, explains why Democrats have only themselves to blame for the Mexican standoff they’re now locked in with a very stubborn octogenarian.
—airmail.news, 13 July 2024
This is going to be a Mexican standoff relationship.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 20 Oct. 2022
Ahmet Şık, a former journalist and an opposition MP, likened the situation to a Mexican standoff, a confrontation in which no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory.
—Guney Yildiz, Forbes, 24 May 2021
The Editors, National Review, 28 Apr. 2025
This week, Todd S. Purdum, a longtime political reporter for The New York Times, explains why Democrats have only themselves to blame for the Mexican standoff they’re now locked in with a very stubborn octogenarian.
—airmail.news, 13 July 2024
This is going to be a Mexican standoff relationship.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 20 Oct. 2022
Ahmet Şık, a former journalist and an opposition MP, likened the situation to a Mexican standoff, a confrontation in which no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory.
—Guney Yildiz, Forbes, 24 May 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Mexican standoff
halt
Noun
-
That was after the pandemic lockdown brought concerts — and much of the world — shuddering to a halt in 2020 and much of 2021 (and before the COVID resurgence that followed).—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2025
-
Finding that the 1977 law Trump invoked to impose his sweeping tariffs does not actually give him the power to do so, the court ordered a permanent halt to the duties and barred any future modifications.—
Josephine Rozzelle,
CNBC,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mexican standoff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Mexican%20standoff. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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