logjam

An excess of logs being conveyed on a river, so that their motion halts.

Noun

  1. An excess of logs being conveyed on a river, so that their motion halts.
  2. A clog or such jam or mess that halts or greatly delays progress.
    • Efforts to amend the law got sidetracked in an administrative logjam.
    • Mr. Clinton can break the logjam by first convincing the public that he is willing to start with small but meaningful victories. - 1994 August 28, “Mr. Clinton: Break the Logjam”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
    • It is in the interest of all NATO and E.U. members to break political logjams. Our personnel operating in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and the Gulf of Aden have already learned that lesson. - 2010 October 18, Ivo H....

Origin

From log + jam.

Forms

logjams

Verb

  1. To deliberately impede or delay the progress of.

Forms

logjams logjamming logjammed

Related

bottleneck Catch-22 traffic jam vicious circle