impasse

im·passe

noun \ˈim-ˌpas, im-ˈ\

Definition of IMPASSE

1

a : a predicament affording no obvious escape b : deadlock

2

: an impassable road or way : cul-de-sac

Examples of IMPASSE

1. An arbitrator was called in to break the impasse.
2. She had reached an impasse in her career.
3. The players are poised to strike after Thursday's games because they believe, with good reason, that if no agreement is reached by the end of the post-season, the owners will declare an impasse … —Murray Chass, New York Times, 9 Aug. 1994
4. We seem to have been forced into an impasse. We need to understand why space-time singularities have the structures that they appear to have; but space-time singularities are regions where our understanding of physics has reached its limits. —Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind, 1989
5. I think the civil rights movement in its early and middle years offered the best way out of America's racial impasse: in this society, race must not be a source of advantage or disadvantage for anyone. —Shelby Steele, Harper's, June 1988

Origin of IMPASSE

French, from in- + passer to pass

First Known Use: 1851

Related to IMPASSE

Synonyms: deadlock, gridlock, halt, logjam, Mexican standoff, stalemate, standoff, standstill

Related Words: dead end; bind, bottleneck, corner, dilemma, fix, hole, jam, morass, pickle, pinch, plight, predicament, quagmire, quandary, spot; difficulty; problem

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Rhymes with IMPASSE

admass, air mass, alas, Alsace, amass, art glass, avgas, badass, bagasse, beach grass, bear grass, bent grass, black bass, Black Mass, bluegrass, bromegrass, bunchgrass, bypass, cheatgrass, cordgrass, crabgrass, crevasse, cuirass, cut glass, cut-grass, declass, degas, drop pass, Drygas, eelgrass, en masse, eyeglass, first-class, flint glass, float glass, folk mass, ground glass, groundmass, hand glass, harass, hard-ass, haul ass, high-class, high mass, hourglass, jackass, jump pass, kelp bass, kick ass, kick-ass, knotgrass, landmass, lead glass, low mass, Madras, milk glass, morass, nut grass, oat grass, outclass, outgas, palliasse, pier glass, plate glass, quartz glass, red mass, repass, rest mass, ribgrass, rock bass, ryegrass, salt grass, sandglass, saw grass, screen pass, sea bass, sheet glass, smart-ass, South Pass, spot pass, spun glass, spyglass, stained glass, star grass, striped bass, subclass, sunglass, sung mass, surpass, sweetgrass, switchgrass, sword grass, teargas, third-class, trespass, Troas, turfgrass, wheatgrass, white bass, wineglass, wire grass, wiseass, witchgrass, word class, world-class, yard grass