cul-de-sac
Americannoun
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culs-de-sac,
plural
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cul-de-sacs
plural
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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
Noun Inflected 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.
See Examples For:
She added that she was concerned that the elderly residents of the cul-de-sac, who were in bed when the flood hit last night, would not be able to leave their homes.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
“Pristine, completely remodeled, two-story warm Contemporary done with great taste and quality at the end of a quiet, flat cul-de-sac street in a desirable Brentwood Hills location,” the description begins.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
"I often get into a cul-de-sac, searching up myself about what the problems are with me, and I usually assume that in time, these things will pass, so I only go if it's really serious."
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
For the Hugheses, staying in place was their preferred option because they love their house on a quiet cul-de-sac and their neighbors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Then he goes to a house at the end of a cul-de-sac.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
“Torreyson is one of the most exclusive cul-de-sacs in the Hollywood Hills, surrounded by historically significant architecture, including a neighboring Richard Neutra residence, with several notable figures calling the area home.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Your relative might lose his train of thought; another person’s relative might get stuck in verbal cul-de-sacs of nonsense.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2024
Mr. Biden spoke quickly and precisely, without entering the verbal cul-de-sacs endemic to many of his presidential speeches 28 years later.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2024
Wide boulevards, suburban cul-de-sacs, strip malls, tract homes, and hiking and horse trails dominate the district, where Cal State Northridge is a major job center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
In easternmost Siasconset, the gray-shingled fishermen’s cottages that occupied the corners of plots of sea grass and wildflowers are giving way to mansions in private cul-de-sacs.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Today, too many American children cannot safely leave their culs-de-sac.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Better, then, to make shows for television, a medium that is more comfortable with loose ends and narrative culs-de-sac, where he can tell a “continuing story”.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 23, 2018
Martz saw FlexBus as the key to transforming Altamonte, a loose agglomeration of palm tree-lined strip malls and culs-de-sac a few miles north of Orlando, into a thriving and walkable destination.
From The Verge ● Sep. 1, 2016
In retirement communities and suburban culs-de-sac, battery-powered carts are a cheap, energy-efficient way to move around the neighborhood.
From Time Magazine Archive
They drive until it grows dark, without destination in mind, past hidden ponds and graveyards, culs-de-sac and dead ends.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
