dead end
Use Dead end in a sentencedead end
noun
1.
something, as a street or water pipe, that has no exit.
2.
a position that offers no hope of progress; blind alley; cul-de-sac: His theory led him to a dead end.
Origin:
1885–90
1885–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged
adjective
1.
terminating in a dead end: a dead-end street.
2.
Also, dead-end·ed. having no possibility for or hope of progress, advancement, etc.: a low-level, dead-end job.
3.
leading a life in the slums: growing up as a tough dead-end kid.
verb (used without object)
4.
to come to a dead end: The road dead-ends at the lake.
Origin:
1885–90
1885–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To dead end
00:10
Dead end
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
| dead end | |
| —n | |
| 1. | another name for cul-de-sac |
| 2. | a situation in which further progress is impossible |
| 3. | dead-end (as modifier): a dead-end street; a dead-end job |
| —vb | |
| 4. | chiefly (US), (Canadian) (intr) to come to a dead end |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
dead end
-
A passage that has no exit, as in This street's a dead end, so turn back. [Late 1800s]
-
An impasse or blind alley, allowing no progress to be made. For example, This job is a dead end; I'll never be able to advance. [c. 1920]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Jellyfish are often viewed as an energetic dead end.
Thinking she was handing me the key to my lost past, she instead shunted me to a meaningless dead end.
There were many dead end roads and uncompleted streets, which picked up several blocks from where they ended.
Some geneticists believe that desperation is leading him to a dead end.
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
