pedlock
(PED.lawk)
n.
The condition or state of being so crowded that people are unable to move easily in any direction (pedestrian + gridlock). —adj.
Example Citation:
Within a few blocks, the crowds heading down to the Neva waterfront, site of the night's celebration, reached near-pedlock density.
—Ian Frazer, "Invented City," The New Yorker, July 28, 2003
Earliest Citation:
The form letter went on to say that ever since ''gridlock'' had become a popular way of describing a standstill traffic jam, another new form, ''pedlock,'' had come along to describe a pileup, and immobilization, of pedestrians. Here I balked, beginning to breathe a bit heavily.
—Walter Kerr, "What's in a name? Traffic jams, that's what!," The New York Times, April 1, 1982
