cul-de-sac
a street, lane, etc., closed at one end; blind alley; dead-end street.
any situation in which further progress is impossible.
the hemming in of a military force on all sides except behind.
Anatomy. a saclike cavity, tube, or the like, open only at one end, as the cecum.
Origin of cul-de-sac
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cul-de-sac in a sentence
The case abounded in these culs-de-sac which seemed to lead nowhere.
The Daffodil Mystery | Edgar WallaceThe operation, however, may be modified and applied to the formation of both the upper and outer culs-de-sac.
Hence the culs-de-sac, the small and stifling courts and alleys.
The Sanitary Evolution of London | Henry Lorenzo JephsonPeyton Avenue and South Lane were culs-de-sac and soon filled, and the overflow flooded our trenches.
The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry | D. D. OgilvieThe old town is composed of winding streets and culs-de-sac bordered by old houses in the Flemish style.
British Dictionary definitions for cul-de-sac
/ (ˈkʌldəˌsæk, ˈkʊl-) /
a road with one end blocked off; dead end
an inescapable position
any tube-shaped bodily cavity or pouch closed at one end, such as the caecum
Origin of cul-de-sac
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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