View synonyms for cul-de-sac

cul-de-sac

[ kuhl-duh-sak, -sak, kool-; French kyduh-sak ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural culs-de-sac [kuhlz, -d, uh, -, sak, -sak, koolz, -, k, y, d, uh, -, sak].

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.

cul-de-sac

/ ˈkʊl-; ˈkʌldəˌsæk /

1730–40; < French: literally, bottom of the sack

C18: from French, literally: bottom of the bag

Surrounded by inert goods, we felt hemmed in, pushed toward a lifestyle cul-de-sac.

In other words, Todd Akin did not stumble his way into his cul-de-sac.

When a slug is encouraged to slime its way down a narrow cul-de-sac, how does it beat a retreat?

On the set, a hole was dug in the middle of a cul-de-sac, surrounded by dilapidated clay houses overlooking a shady canyon.

This doesn't mean we scare the hell out of kids with gruesome stories of the monster lurking at the end of the cul de sac.

He feared that he would either be shot or left to starve in this cul-de-sac in the hills.

It was not the kind of cul-de-sac that Goritz would have chosen.

Gradually a distant line of pack, which had been visible for some time, closed in and the ship ran into a cul-de-sac.

To enter the little Cafe in the cul-de-sac Le Febvre was, at the period of our tale, to enter the sanctum of a man of genius.

He stepped up his pace slightly, and in a moment they turned abruptly into a darkened cul-de-sac.

April 17, 2024axolotl

[ak-suh-lot-l ]

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