deadlock.

1. A state in which opposing parties or requirements prevent further progress.

2. A state in which processes cannot proceed because each is waiting for a resource or action dependent on another blocked process.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• reach a deadlock
• break the deadlock
• negotiations in deadlock

On the page

The deadlock lasted until a third party offered a route neither side had considered.

Both factions claimed to want agreement while preserving the demands that caused the deadlock.

Usage notes

Primary category: sci-fi. Forms: Singular deadlock; plural deadlocks. Verb forms: deadlock; deadlocks; deadlocked; deadlocked; deadlocking. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: deadlocks.