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
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as in to fill
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Recent Examples of gridlock
Betsy Plum, New York Daily News, 4 Mar. 2025
And yet, all four of these second terms, despite their many differences, followed the same broadly deflating trajectory: initial White House confidence collided with legislative gridlock, then decomposed from the slow rot of scandal.
—Matthew Karp, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for gridlock
Noun
Instead of partnering with New York to cut gridlock, His administration is throwing up roadblocks for a policy that’s making our city safer, cleaner, and more efficient, all for political theater.
—Betsy Plum, New York Daily News, 4 Mar. 2025
And yet, all four of these second terms, despite their many differences, followed the same broadly deflating trajectory: initial White House confidence collided with legislative gridlock, then decomposed from the slow rot of scandal.
—Matthew Karp, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
Verb
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
See All Example Sentences for gridlock
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gridlock
Noun
-
One unique thing Reno fit into it is a short sound around the 1:35 mark that sounds like a car screeching to a halt.—
Tom Roland,
Billboard,
8 Apr. 2025
-
Rather than dwell on this possibility, or call for a halt to further investments until the federal funding picture resolves, supervisors instead took turns bidding Bergmann farewell and welcoming acting director Nadia Privara.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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While the season is often filled with soft pastels (hi, lavender milk nails) and shimmery nudes, some celebs have decided to go in a different direction this season.—
Catharine Malzahn,
Glamour,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Reckoning to help fill seats and keep the market recovery going.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The race is nonpartisan, but the incoming supervisor will break the 2-2 deadlock between the two Democrats and the two Republicans on the current Board of Supervisors.—
Maura Fox,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Apr. 2025
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The ongoing deadlock raises the risk of direct conflict between the U.S. and Iran in an already unstable Middle East, where an American aircraft carrier strike group is leading a U.S. military operation against the Houthi militants in Yemen.—
Lee Habeeb,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The brash freshman who spent much of the season bragging to teammates about his power corked a bat to crush balls even farther.—
Chandler Rome,
The Athletic,
20 Aug. 2024
-
Pair with a bottle of wine or corked beverage of choice for an even more elevated gift.—
Rachel Fletcher,
Architectural Digest,
9 Oct. 2024
Noun
-
The impasse raises the likelihood that the debt ceiling will be dealt with separately as part of a deal with the Democrats on wildfire aid later this year.—
David Sivak,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
25 Mar. 2025
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Don't be surprised if Beijing and Washington use this impasse as a bargaining chip in tariff talks.—
Dan Primack,
Axios,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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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
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All the while, the Guadalquivir River, which allowed ships into Seville, began to silt up, forcing trade southward to the coastal town of Cádiz.—
Walker Mimms,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2023
Noun
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Then, the actors and writers strikes of 2023 brought production to a standstill, leaving cinemas with fewer movies to show.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
1 Apr. 2025
-
The strike brought bus and light-rail service across the county to a standstill, impacting the daily travel of about 100,000 riders.—
Caelyn Pender,
Mercury News,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The formula is packed with hyaluronic acid to deeply hydrate and plump the skin, and it can be applied on its own or mixed into a moisturizer.—
Alanna Martine Kilkeary,
Glamour,
10 Apr. 2025
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Ironwood delivers higher throughput compared to previous Google Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), and Google really plans to pack these chips in.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gridlock.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gridlock. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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