dead end

See also: deadend and dead-end

English

Alternative forms

dead-end, deadend

Pronunciation

Audio (Australia): (file)

Noun

dead end (plural dead ends)

(idiomatic) A street or path or tunnel that goes nowhere or is blocked on one end.
Synonyms: cul-de-sac, blind alley, impasse

That road comes to a dead end at the lake.
- 1991, “I Don't Give a Fuck”, in 2Pacalypse Now, performed by 2Pac:
  With a blast, take his cash before I dash and bash his head in / Dump him at the dead end, and that's just his luck
(mining) The inner end of a drift or tunnel.
- 1912 Queensland Annual Report of the Under Secretary for Mines for 1911. Brisbane, Australia. p.167
  The ventilation of dead ends — always a serious problem — has in some mines been an absolute necessity. At the Oriental Consols Gold Mine a crosscut at a depth of 2,600 ft. has been continued to over 1,400 ft. from the shaft, and at the No. 2 South Great Eastern Gold Mine crosscutting and driving has been carried on at depths of 1,750 ft. and 2,000 ft. In order to ventilate these dead ends blowers have been used to force air into the faces through lines of pipes.
(figurative) A position that offers no hope of change or progress.
Synonyms: cul-de-sac, impasse

Her father suggested that she decline the job because it was a dead end.
- 2005 September 11, Madeleine Bunting, “The muscular liberals are marching into a dead end”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 October 2026:
  Furthermore, this muscular liberal project is a dead end. It's a nostalgic grab for old certainties.
- 2022 January 13, Julian Borger, “What have Ukraine talks achieved, and is war now more likely?”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 October 2026:
  Russia calls talks a ‘dead end’ and it becomes clear that troop build-up is not a bluff to achieve other ends[.]
- 2022 May 18, Damian Carrington, “Critical climate indicators broke records in 2021, says UN”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 October 2026:
  “ […] Fossil fuels are a dead end – environmentally and economically,” said António Guterres, the secretary general of the UN.
A split end in the hair.
- 1890, The Young Lady's Private Counselor, page 208:
  Cut the ends of the hair once a month certain — no matter if you do cut but just the tips of a fourth of an inch, cut it. Cut off the dead ends every month as regularly as the new moon comes round.

Derived terms

Translations

street or path that goes nowhere — see also impasse

Afrikaans: doodloopstraat
Arabic: طَرِيق مَسْدُود m (ṭarīq masdūd), طَرِيق غَيْر نَافِذ m (ṭarīq ḡayr nāfiḏ)
Armenian: փակուղի (hy) (pʻakuġi)
Azerbaijani: dalan (az)
Belarusian: тупі́к m (tupík)
Bulgarian: задъ́нена у́лица f (zadắnena úlica)
Catalan: cul-de-sac (ca) m atzucac (ca) m, carreró sense sortida m, carreró sense eixida m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 掘頭巷 / 掘头巷 (gwat⁶ tau⁴ hong^6-2)

Mandarin: 死衚衕 / 死胡同 (zh) (sǐhútòng), 死路 (zh) (sǐlù), 死巷 (zh) (sǐxiàng), 末路 (zh) (mòlù)
Czech: slepá ulička f, slepá ulice f
Danish: blind vej c, blindgyde (da) c, blindgade c (rare)
Dutch: beluik (nl) m, doodlopende weg m
Estonian: umbtee, umbtänav, tupik
Finnish: umpikuja (fi), pussikatu
French: cul-de-sac (fr) m, impasse (fr) f, voie sans issue (fr) f
Galician: rúa cega f
Georgian: ჩიხი (ka) (čixi)
German: Sackgasse (de) f, Stichstraße (de) f
Greek: αδιέξοδο (el) n (adiéxodo), αδιέξοδος (el) f (adiéxodos)
Ancient Greek: ἀδιέξοδος f (adiéxodos)
Hebrew: מָבוֹי סָתוּם (he) m (mavóy satúm)
Hungarian: zsákutca (hu)
Icelandic: botnlangi (is) m, blindgata f, botngata f
Indonesian: jalan buntu (id)
Italian: cul di sacco m, ronco m, strada senza uscita f, vicolo cieco m, cul de sac (it) m
Japanese: 袋小路 (ja) (ふくろこうじ, fukurokōji), 行き止まり (ja) (いきどまり, ikidomari), 行き詰まり (ja) (いきづまり, ikizumari)
Kapampangan: ikadulu, ikatatawli
Kazakh: тұйық (tuyıq)
Korean: 막다른 길 (makdareun gil), 막다른 골목 (makdareun golmok), 막다른 골 (makdareun gol)
Latin: fundula f
Latvian: strupceļš m
Macedonian: сле́па у́лица f (slépa úlica), ќо́р-сокак m (ḱór-sokak)
Malay: jalan mati (ms)
Norman: tchu-d'sa m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: blindvei (no) m, blindveg (no) m, blindgate (no) m or f

Nynorsk: blindveg m, blindgate f
Polish: ślepa uliczka (pl) f, ślepy zaułek (pl) m
Portuguese: beco sem saída (pt) m, rua sem saída (pt) f, cul-de-sac (pt) m
Romanian: fundătură (ro) f, fundac (ro) n, drum înfundat n
Russian: тупи́к (ru) m (tupík)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: слепа улица f, слијепа улица f

Latin: slepa ulica f, slijepa ulica f
Sicilian: curtigghiu (scn) m
Slovak: slepá ulička f
Slovene: slepa ulica f
Spanish: calle sin salida f, callejón sin salida (es) m, calle ciega f, callejón (es) m, adarve (es) m
Swedish: återvändsgränd (sv) c
Tagalog: daang sukol
Thai: ทางตัน (th) (taang-dtan)
Turkish: çıkmaz sokak (tr)
Ukrainian: глухи́й кут m (hluxýj kut)
Vietnamese: ngõ cụt (vi), đường cụt
Volapük: sakalusüt

position that offers no hope of progress

Arabic: طَرِيق مَسْدُود m (ṭarīq masdūd)
Bulgarian: задъ́нена у́лица f (zadắnena úlica)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 絕境 / 绝境 (zh) (juéjìng), 困境 (zh) (kùnjìng)
Czech: slepá ulička
Danish: blindgyde (da) c, blindspor n
Finnish: umpikuja (fi)
French: voie de garage (fr) f, impasse (fr) f, voie sans issue (fr) f
German: Ende Gelände
Indonesian: jalan buntu (id)
Italian: vicolo cieco m, punto morto m, stasi (it) f, stanca (it) f
Japanese: 行き詰まり (ja) (いきづまり, ikizumari), デッドエンド (deddo endo)
Korean: 막다른 골목 (makdareun golmok), 막다른 골 (makdareun gol), 데드 엔드 (dedeu endeu)
Polish: ślepa uliczka (pl) f
Portuguese: impasse (pt) m
Romanian: impas (ro) n
Russian: тупи́к (ru) m (tupík)
Spanish: punto muerto (es), callejón sin salida (es) m
Thai: ทางตัน (th) (taang-dtan)
Ukrainian: тупи́к m (tupýk)
Vietnamese: ngõ cụt (vi)

Anagrams

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