impasse

impasse
    n 1: a situation in which no progress can be made or no
         advancement is possible; "reached an impasse on the
         negotiations" [syn: {deadlock}, {dead end}, {impasse},
         {stalemate}, {standstill}]
    2: a street with only one way in or out [syn: {blind alley},
       {cul de sac}, {dead-end street}, {impasse}]
    

Impasse \Im`passe"\ ([a^]N`p[aum]s"; E. [i^]m*p[.a]s"), n. [F.]
   An impassable road or way; a blind alley; cul-de-sac; fig., a
   position or predicament affording no escape.

         The issue from the present impasse will, in all
         probability, proceed from below, not from above.
                                                  --Arnold
                                                  White.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
    

49 Moby Thesaurus words for "impasse":
      bar, barrier, blank wall, blind alley, blind gut, block, blockade,
      blockage, bottleneck, box, cecum, choking, choking off, clog,
      congestion, constipation, corner, costiveness, cul-de-sac,
      dead end, dead-end street, deadlock, dilemma, embolism, embolus,
      extremity, fix, gorge, halt, hole, impediment, infarct, infarction,
      jam, obstacle, obstipation, obstruction, pickle, plight, pocket,
      scrape, sealing off, stalemate, stand, stand-off, standstill, stop,
      stoppage, strangulation