grind to a halt

English

Etymology

From windmills. To stop a windmill from turning too quickly, such as during a strong gust of wind, excess corn would be poured between the grinding stone (top stone) and the nether stone (bottom stone). The extra pressure would cause the stones to slow down or literally "grind to a halt", and thereby stop the windmill from turning.(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

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Verb

grind to a halt (third-person singular simple present grinds to a halt, present participle grinding to a halt, simple past and past participle ground to a halt)

1. (intransitive, of an activity) To come to a standstill, or cease to be productive or make progress, due to an obstacle.

   Work on the new high-rise ground to a halt as contractors tried to deal with all the red tape.

   After the visionary's death, work on his ideas ground to a halt.

   • 2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29:

     But to no avail - the suburban (Sunday) service ground to a halt, with only 20 of the 268 motormen turning up for work on Boxing Day [1949]. Kempton Park races lost 10,000 visitors, with the cancellation of 12 extra race day trains.

Translations

to bring to a stop or halt

• Finnish: pysähtyä (fi)
• French: se gripper (fr), se bloquer (fr), se paralyser (fr), s’immobiliser (fr)
• Maori: urutū
• Russian: остановиться (ru) (ostanovitʹsja)