But German reticence did not paralyze Europe.

The peace talks will not paralyze the state or weaken its ability to act.

And, in the US, ideological polarization between Democrats and Republicans will continue to paralyze economic policy.

They would anesthetize people, convulse them, but the real difficulty was that there was no way to paralyze muscles.

In fact, Israel discovered over the last few years that Gaza contained enough rockets and missiles to paralyze its south.

So Germans are all the more disturbed that the train drivers union, the GDL, has voted for a nation wide strike that will paralyze the country.

But opponents of legislation can threaten to filibuster (speak for an indefinite period and thereby paralyze Senate business), which can be ended only if 60 senators support bringing the legislation to a vote.

They carry vengeance in their hearts from generation to generation, until a measure of justice is done, nursing their enmity in frozen conflicts that block economic growth, prevent the formation of social capital, and paralyze political institutions.

E.B. White wrote us a number of rules, which can either paralyze you and make you loathe him for the rest of time, or you can ignore them, which I do, or you can, I don't know what, you know, eat a sandwich.

Now, it is possible that Republican legislators may rebel against their leaders, arguing that they ran for office to govern, not to paralyze the government in the hope that doing so will give the party power to reign as it wishes after the next election.