dead end
noun
something, as a street or water pipe, that has no exit.
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dead end
1 Americannoun
-
dead ends
plural
-
something, as a street or water pipe, that has no exit.
-
a position that offers no hope of progress; blind alley; cul-de-sac.
His theory led him to a dead end.
dead-end
2
American
[ded-end]
/ ˈdɛdˈɛnd /
adjective
-
terminating in a dead end.
a dead-end street.
-
Also dead-ended. having no possibility for or hope of progress, advancement, etc..
a low-level, dead-end job.
-
leading a life in the slums.
growing up as a tough dead-end kid.
verb (used without object)
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dead-ends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dead-ended,
past participle, past
-
dead-ending
present participle
dead end
British
noun
-
another name for cul-de-sac
-
a situation in which further progress is impossible
-
dead-end. ( as modifier )
a dead-end street
a dead-end job
verb
dead end
Idioms
-
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]
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dead-endsimple
-
dead-endssimple
-
have dead-endedperfect
-
has dead-endedperfect
-
am dead-endingprogressive
-
are dead-endingprogressive
-
is dead-endingprogressive
-
have been dead-endingperfect progressive
-
has been dead-endingperfect progressive
Past
-
dead-endedsimple
-
had dead-endedperfect
-
was dead-endingprogressive
-
were dead-endingprogressive
-
had been dead-endingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dead end1
First recorded in 1885–90
Origin of dead-end2
First recorded in 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Instead of seeming like a smart pursuit, a computer-science degree started to look like it could be a dead end.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
A bill that would have allowed California insurers to track motorists driving habits in exchange for potentially lower rates has come to a dead end.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
"The first part is like a tube station, with a dead end and a platform, then from the platform smaller tunnels went at right angles."
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Despite the promising findings, the research reached a dead end because scientists could not determine the molecules' exact three dimensional structures.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
For the better part of the day, I groped blindly through the labyrinth in the whiteout, retracing my steps from one dead end to another.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
"It's not a dead-end," said Incandela Lab graduate student researcher Danyi Zhang.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Later, they became involved with a label that was embroiled in a lawsuit, which proved to be yet another dead-end.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
One recruit was Derek Allen, a computer programmer who graduated from high school at 16 and dropped out of college, convinced AI-generated code would turn programming into a dead-end job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Still, the next day, June 23, CBS News’ website plowed the same dead-end road with this headline: “Vance Says Iran to Let International Nuclear Inspections Resume After ‘Good Day’ of Talks.”
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
Pacing, she felt as though her life had chased her down a dead-end corridor and trapped her there to taunt her.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Page got to work looking for a writer, a process that involved many dead-ends and far too many pitches about, “a local coming out of Louisiana and now she’s a star,” Page said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2025
However, pharmaceutical companies want to recover their years of research and development costs - and the field has produced a lot of expensive duds and dead-ends.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2024
Podcasts such as The Coldest Case in Laramie and Bear Brook detail twists and turns in who-done-it style journalism, exposing dead-ends and biases in investigations that have left possible killers free for decades.
From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2023
In about a half-mile, the plowed road dead-ends.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2022
Instead of heading toward The Strand, however, he takes a small turnoff down a dirt road that dead-ends.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
The street dead-ended at some railroad tracks, beyond which flowed the St. Johns River.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2021
At the time, Great Seneca Highway was a two-lane road that dead-ended at the entrance to Orchard Valley.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 10, 2020
The college grad with a geology degree who found himself dead-ended in the oil and gas industry.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 24, 2018
Imagine walking through a maze, for years and years, to find that your path has dead-ended near the exit.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 19, 2017
We walked one way down Wakeling looking for Rookery until it dead-ended at a large open sewer which Enoch said was the River Fleet, then turned and came back the other way.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
And just as she acts on her instructions to “get him out of his shell,” he persuades her to consider why she’ll be dead-ending it in Montauk for the foreseeable future.
From New York Times ● Jun. 21, 2023
Bailey Street passes Mariachi Plaza, where mariachis hang out looking to be hired, before dead-ending at White Memorial hospital.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2022
The road’s 92-mile route winds up, over and around sheer mountain passes before dead-ending at an old mining community at its westernmost point.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2021
Meticulously pruned, terraced chardonnay vines dominated the full vista, dead-ending at the slopes of Mont Blanc off to the north.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2015
Mami pushed me into the plane, down a long aisle lined with seats dead-ending against a wall—my first glimpse of what New York would be like.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
