grind to a halt/standstill idiom
慢慢停下来，逐渐陷入停顿
to stop slowly
The car ground to a halt right in the middle of the street. 汽车慢慢停在马路正中间。
figurative If we don't do something soon, the industry could grind to a halt (= stop operating). 如果我们不马上采取措施，行业可能会陷入瘫痪。