logjam

log +‎ jam

logjam (plural logjams)

1. An excess of logs being conveyed on a river, so that their motion halts.
2. (figuratively) A clog or such jam or mess that halts or greatly delays progress.

   Efforts to amend the law got sidetracked in an administrative logjam.

   • 1994 August 28, “Mr. Clinton: Break the Logjam”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Mr. Clinton can break the logjam by first convincing the public that he is willing to start with small but meaningful victories.

   • 2010 October 18, Ivo H. Daalder, “Breaking a Brussels 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.

logjam (third-person singular simple present logjams, present participle logjamming, simple past and past participle logjammed)

1. (transitive) To deliberately impede or delay the progress of.

• bottleneck
• Catch-22
• traffic jam
• vicious circle