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🇵🇹Portuguese Source WordCode: PT

congestionamento total

Pronunciation / Transliteration: /kõ.ʒɛs.tjo.naˈmẽ.tu toˈtaɫ/

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Gridlock/ˈɡrɪd.lɒk/
nounverbCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
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🇵🇹 Example Sentence in Portuguese:

"O acidente na ponte gerou um congestionamento total."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A traffic jam in which a grid of intersecting streets becomes completely blocked, preventing vehicle movement in any direction.

    "The sudden downpour caused massive gridlock across the downtown commercial district during rush hour."
  2. 2

    A situation of severe blockages or paralysis where no progress or agreement can be reached, typically in politics or legislation.

    "Deep partisan divisions in parliament led to total legislative gridlock, halting all major reforms."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Coined in the United States in the late 1970s as a compound of 'grid' (referring to a grid pattern of city streets) and 'lock' (indicating fastening or immovable stoppage). Originally describing absolute traffic paralysis where vehicles block intersecting streets in a grid system, the term's semantic scope expanded metaphorically during the 1980s to describe political or institutional stalemates.

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Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

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