zatorami

Zatorami is the instrumental plural form of the Polish noun zator, which denotes an obstruction, blockage or jam. In Polish grammar the ending -ami marks the instrumental plural for many masculine and neuter nouns, and zatorami therefore means "with obstructions" or "by means of blockages." The word is used in descriptions of physical blockages (for example in rivers or pipes), medical contexts (blood clots), and figurative situations (traffic jams, bureaucratic gridlock).

Etymologically zator derives from the Slavic root related to stopping or closing; cognates appear in other Slavic languages (for example Russian затор). Common collocations include "zatory lodowe" (ice jams) and "zatory komunikacyjne" (traffic jams). In sentences the instrumental plural can indicate accompaniment or the means by which something occurs, as in the Polish phrase "rzeka z zatorami lodowymi" (a river with ice jams) or "droga z zatorami" (a road with traffic jams).

Related grammatical forms are the nominative plural zatory and singular forms zator (nominative) and zatorem (instrumental singular). The term is broadly applicable across hydrology, engineering, medicine and everyday speech to describe situations in which flow—of water, traffic, blood or information—is impeded.