deadlock
DED-lok
/ˈdedlɒk/
A situation, typically one involving opposing parties, in which no progress can be made; a stalemate.
Implies that both sides are equally strong or stubborn, leading to a complete halt in movement.
The story behind the word. Originally a 17th-century term for a lock that could only be opened with a key (no spring), making it 'dead' or unmoving. It was later applied to situations where two opposing forces cancel each other out.
Word relationships
- stalemate: Stalemate comes from chess and implies that any move made will result in a loss or no progress; deadlock is more general.
- impasse: Impasse is a more formal, French-derived term for a road with no exit, often used for diplomatic failures.
- breakthrough: A sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development that allows progress.
Commonly confused with
- gridlock: Gridlock usually refers to traffic or a system so full it can't move; deadlock refers to a conflict between two specific parties.
Collocations
- reach a deadlock
- break the deadlock
- political deadlock
- complete deadlock
Example sentences
- "The wage negotiations reached a deadlock when the union refused to accept anything less than a 10% raise." Labor dispute
- "The striker's goal in the 85th minute finally broke the deadlock, giving his team a 1-0 lead." Sports
Memory hook
The argument is DEAD because it is LOCKED in place. Locked and unmoving.
When not to use
Don't use for a simple delay; it must be a situation where progress is impossible without a major change.
Fun facts
- In computing, a 'deadlock' occurs when two programs are each waiting for the other to finish, so neither ever does.
Explore more words
impasse, zero-sum, confrontation, stagnation, bottleneck, stall
Also appears in
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