Synonyms and antonyms of Traffic movements and traffic jams in British Thesaurus

back up ()

if traffic backs up, or if it is backed up, the vehicles are in a long line and waiting to continue moving

bottleneck (noun)

a place where a road is narrow or blocked, causing traffic to move very slowly

bumper-to-bumper (adjective)

in a long line of vehicles that are close together and moving very slowly

busy (adjective)

having a lot of traffic passing through

cone off ()

to put traffic cones across a road in order to prevent traffic from going along the road

congestion (noun)

a situation in which a place is crowded with people or vehicles, so that it is difficult to move around

congestion charge (noun)

a payment that you make each day for the right to drive into a city centre, introduced as a way of reducing traffic

contraflow (noun)

British a situation in which vehicles travelling in both directions use only one side of the road while the other side is being repaired

filter (verb)

British if traffic filters somewhere, it turns right or left when a separate traffic light gives it the signal to go

gridlock (noun)

a situation in which there are so many cars on the roads that traffic cannot move

hold-up (noun)

a situation in which traffic does not move or moves only very slowly

jam (noun)

a long line of vehicles that are not moving, or are moving very slowly

jump a light ()

to ignore a red traffic light and keep driving

nose to tail ()

if cars are nose to tail, they are moving slowly in a long line with not much space between them

road pricing (noun)

British a system designed to reduce traffic, in which drivers must pay to use a road

the rush (noun)

the period of time during which the crowds are the largest or there is the most traffic

snarl (verb)

to make something such as traffic unable to move

snarl-up (noun)

a situation in which traffic coming from several different directions is prevented from moving

speed limit (noun)

the fastest speed allowed for vehicles in a particular area

tailback (noun)

British a long line of traffic that is moving very slowly or not moving at all

tail back ()

to form a long line of traffic that is not moving

ticket (noun)

an official piece of paper that shows a driver that they must pay money for committing a traffic offence

ticket (verb)

to give a ticket to a driver who has committed a traffic offence

tied up (adjective)

American if traffic is tied up, it is not moving very quickly

traffic (noun)

connected with traffic, or caused by traffic

traffic calming (noun)

British methods of slowing down traffic, for example by building raised areas across roads

traffic jam (noun)

a line of vehicles waiting behind something that is blocking the road