rigid; deadlock; stiff (corpse)

rigor mortis

to bring to deadlock; to result in a stalemate

rigid; stiff

(of a relationship or situation) to become strained and tense

lit. the plum tree withers in place of the peach tree; to substitute one thing for another; to carry the can for sb

dead but showing no signs of rigor mortis; to die hard (idiom); to die yet not be vanquished (idiom)

a centipede dies but never falls down; old institutions die hard