Definition of the word gridlocked

The term "gridlocked" was coined in the late 1960s, during a surge in the use of privately-owned automobiles in urban areas. So-called "gridlock" appeared as the result of the increasing congestion on city streets, exacerbated particularly during rush hours. This congestion, in turn, rendered traffic movement nearly immobile ("locked"), creating a checkerboard pattern of intersections similar to a grid ("grid"). The word "gridlocked" condenses these phenomena into a single expression, which has since entered the lexicon as a term that denotes heavy and prolonged traffic congestion. Today, "gridlocked" is commonly used not just to describe traffic jams but also to describe other situations where progress is blocked or delayed by a range of interlocking factors.