noun
- a state in which progress is impossible, as in a dispute, produced by the counteraction of opposing forces; standstill; stalemate: The union and management reached a deadlock over fringe benefits.
- deadbolt.
- a maximum-security cell for the solitary confinement of a prisoner.
verb (used with or without object)
- to bring or come to a deadlock.
noun
- a state of affairs in which further action between two opposing forces is impossible; stalemate
- a tie between opposite sides in a contest
- a lock having a bolt that can be opened only with a key
verb
- to bring or come to a deadlock
“complete standstill,” from dead (adj.), in its emphatic use, + lock (n.). First attested 1779 in Sheridan’s play “The Critic.”