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View synonyms for dead end

dead end

1

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.



dead-end

2

[ ded-end ]

adjective

  1. terminating in a dead end:

    a dead-end street.

  2. Also dead-ended. 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)

  1. to come to a dead end:

    The road dead-ends at the lake.

dead end

noun

  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

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. intr to come to a dead end
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of dead end1

First recorded in 1885–90

Origin of dead end2

First recorded in 1885–90
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Example Sentences

While AI algorithms can be optimized for current computers, they’re likely to hit a dead end when it comes to efficiency.

Break the grammar with too many mutations, or mutations in critical spots, and the virus will no longer be able to enter a cell and replicate, and will reach an evolutionary dead end.

You’d have to subpoena bank records and lawyers, as well as human sources, and even then you frequently hit a dead end.

From Fortune

The bulk of these mistakes are meaningless—false starts and dead ends—that have no impact on humans.

From Time

By taking her smell loss seriously, getting a rapid test and self-isolating, she created a dead end for the virus, breaking the transmission chain before the virus could spread to anyone else.

We are at a dead end in a meaningless war, and we are paying the bill for this fighting every day.

For years he seemed well on his way to a professional dead end, or worse.

“My personal life had basically reached a dead end and the pressures on me were intolerable,” he says.

After lightly interrogating a couple of the delivery boys at Afghan Brothers, we realized we had hit a dead end.

But the pleasures of vengeance and hedonism prove a dead end for Wanda.

Eventually the rift widened a little, and they came to a dead end, beyond which lay the cave.

It was like running though a maze of twisty little passages, all alike, every one leading to the same dead end.

He ate it quickly, then sat brooding over the empty tray, hating to admit to another dead end.

Things was going pretty good; but you might guess yours truly couldn't stand the dead end of things.

The Judge threw away the dead end of his cigar, and shouldered his way into the inmost circle.

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