gridlock
(noun) a traffic jam so bad that no movement is possible
Source: WordNet® 3.1
gridlock (countable and uncountable, plural gridlocks)
A condition of total, interlocking traffic congestion on the streets or highways of a crowded city, in which no one can move because everyone is in someone else's way.
On a smaller scale: the situation in which cars enter a signal-controlled intersection too late during the green light cycle, and are unable to clear the intersection (due to congestion in the next block) when the light turns red, thus blocking the cross traffic when it's their turn to go. Repeated at enough intersections, this phenomenon can lead to citywide gridlock.
(figuratively, by extension) any paralysis of a complex system due to severe congestion, conflict, or deadlock.
• lock
gridlock (third-person singular simple present gridlocks, present participle gridlocking, simple past and past participle gridlocked)
To cause traffic congestion
Source: Wiktionary
6 June 2025
(noun) wit having a sharp and caustic quality; “he commented with typical pungency”; “the bite of satire”
The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.
