cul-de-sac
Americannoun
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a street, lane, etc., closed at one end; blind alley; dead-end street.
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any situation in which further progress is impossible.
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the hemming in of a military force on all sides except behind.
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Anatomy. a saclike cavity, tube, or the like, open only at one end, as the cecum.
noun
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a road with one end blocked off; dead end
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an inescapable position
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any tube-shaped bodily cavity or pouch closed at one end, such as the caecum
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cul-de-sac
1730–40; < French: literally, bottom of the sack
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.
At the inquest on Monday, the court also shown photographs of the area behind a number of houses on the cul de sac.
From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026
Meanwhile, the cul de sac, a street design much in favor with the architects of suburban developments, have become artificial catchments for these highly flammable weeds.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025
“Our house is on fire,” Goldman says, and so she steers her SUV to the next door on the cul de sac.
From Washington Times • Oct. 19, 2020
Neighbors were gathered on driveways and in the middle of the cul de sac trading observations on the fire’s movements and theories on where it would go.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 18, 2018
And no better place could they have chosen than this grim cul de sac.
From The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley by Mitford, Bertram
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
