Autoschlange

Meaning (English):
An “Autoschlange” is a line/queue of cars, typically in slow-moving or stopped traffic—for example at a traffic light, roadworks, an accident site, a toll station, or a highway exit.

It is often used similarly to “Stau” (traffic jam), but it can also describe a more orderly or localized queue of vehicles (a “tailback”) that may or may not be a full-blown jam.

Parts (word components)

• Auto = car
• Schlange = snake
  In German, Schlange is metaphorical here: the cars form a long, snake-like line.

German synonyms

• Warteschlange von Autos (explicit “queue of cars”)
• Fahrzeugschlange (more general: queue of vehicles)
• Autokolonne / Kolonne (convoy/line of cars; often more organized)
• Stau (traffic jam; often stronger/longer-lasting)

German antonyms (where applicable)

There is no single fixed opposite, but common opposites by meaning are:

• freie Fahrt (free flow of traffic)
• fließender Verkehr (moving traffic)
• leere Straße (empty road)