standstill

What it means

1. countableuncountableA complete immobility; a halt.

   The wreck brought traffic to a standstill for hours.

   3 more examples

   Despite all these precautions, however, severe storms sometimes caused drifts which brought traffic completely to a standstill.

   1955 December, H. A. Vallance, “The Highland Centenary—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 859

   [...] but in the damp conditions prevailing the driver sensibly was unwilling to attempt the climb up through Combe Down tunnel without help, for fear of slipping to a standstill in the unventilated bore, [...].

   1960 March, “Motive Power Miscellany: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 184

   For the caller the advantage relies on a fast solution of his service request, leading to less standstill and non-productive periods for the service customer.

   2012, James C. Spohrer, Louis E. Freund, Advances in the Human Side of Service Engineering

   Synonyms: deadlock, dead stand, grind, halt, idle, stalemate, stand, impasse · Antonyms: motion, movement

In a sentence

The wreck brought traffic to a standstill for hours.

Where it comes from

From stand + still, a deverbal from stand still. Compare Dutch stilstand (“a standstill”), German Stillstand (“a standstill”), Danish stilstand (“a standstill”).