gridlocked
3
4.6
- adjective
- /ˈɡrɪdˌlɑkt/
- She was late to the meeting because her car was stuck in gridlocked traffic for over an hour.
- gridlocked traffic
- gridlocked cars
Examples
-
EXT. GRIDLOCKED STREETS.
Fiction book (1995) -
The gridlocked cars have nowhere to run as the wall of destruction grows out from downtown.
Fiction book (1996) -
Given the age and stage of the woman in the gridlocked car, that "just past noon" business in "Freeze Frame" strikes me as obvious to the point of heavy-handedness.
Fiction book (1995) -
So it's no surprise that Woodbury claims the Tango can travel two abreast in a traffic lane, safely switch lanes through small gaps, glide through gridlocked traffic, and at 39 inches wide, park four to a space.
Academic text (2007) -
Seat-belted in her gridlocked and overheating Subaru, the protagonist of "Freeze Frame" is moving from St. Louis's Gateway Arch toward University City at a velocity, alas, of zero miles per hour.
Fiction book (1995) -
During rush hour, the highways are often gridlocked, making travel nearly impossible.
-
Residents frequently complain about gridlocked streets during the weekend market hours.
Synonyms
690
1.0
Not able to move because something holds or traps you
56
1.7
Closed so nothing can pass through, for example a nose or road
51
3.3
Not moving or moving slowly because something is blocking it
48
2.8
Stopped from moving or flowing because something is blocking it
19
4.4
Too full to allow movement, for example during heavy traffic
19
6.6
A situation where two sides cannot agree so nothing moves forward
Antonyms
How Blocked
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Gridlocked comes from grid (a network of streets) and lock ('to close' or 'make unable to move'). Imagine a city's street grid where every crossing is 'locked' and cars cannot move — that picture explains why it means a traffic jam where nothing can go anywhere.