cul-de-sac

Definition

A blind alley or dead end street.

Etymology

Borrowed from French cul-de-sac, from cul (“bottom”) + de (“of”) + sac (“bag, sack”).

Example Sentences

• "Before we had gone fifty yards we perceived that all hopes of getting further up the stream in the whale-boat were at an end, for not two hundred yards above where we had stopped were a succession of shallows and mudbanks, with not six inches of water over them. It was a watery cul de sac."
• "His was the end house of a cul-de-sac, with the side wall of a huge brewery beyond."
• "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."