Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Cul-de-sac
‖
Culˊ-de-sac′
(kuˊde-s?k′ or kulˊde-s?k′)
, Noun.
pl.
Culs-de-sac
(kuˊ- or kulzˊ-)
. [ F., lit., bottom of a bag.]
1.
A passage with only one outlet, as a street closed at one end; a blind alley; hence, a trap.
2.
(Mil.)
a position in which an army finds itself with no way of exit but to the front.
3.
(Anat.)
Any bag-shaped or tubular cavity, vessel, or organ, open only at one end.
Definition 2024
cul-de-sac
cul-de-sac
See also: culdesac
English
Noun
cul-de-sac (plural cul-de-sacs or culs-de-sac)
- A blind alley or dead end street.
- A circular area at the end of a dead end street to allow cars to turn around, designed so children can play on the street, with little or no through-traffic.
- 2010 January 17, Cara Buckley, “A Suburban Treasure, Left to Die”, in New York Times, page Section MB; Column 0; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 1:
- And in suburbs known for new development, preservationists are often battling a general perception that there is nothing historic or worth saving among the cul-de-sacs.
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- An impasse.
- 2005 February 14, National Review:
- Physics seems, in fact, to have got itself into a cul-de-sac, obsessing over theories so mathematically abstruse that nobody even knows how to test them.
-
- (medicine) A sack-like cavity or tube open at one end only.
Translations
blind alley
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circular area at the end of a dead end street
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impasse — see impasse
medicine: a sacklike cavity or tube
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kyd.sak/
Noun
cul-de-sac m (plural culs-de-sac)
- dead end, cul-de-sac (a path that goes nowhere)
- impasse
Portuguese
Noun
cul-de-sac m (plural culs-de-sac or cul-de-sacs or cul-de-sac)
- cul-de-sac; blind alley (street that leads nowhere)
- cul-de-sac (circular area at the end of a dead end street)
- (figuratively) cul-de-sac; dead end; impasse
Synonyms
- (blind alley): rua sem saída, beco sem saída
- (impasse): impasse, beco sem saída