cul-de-sac

noun

ˈkəl-di-ˌsak 

ˈku̇l-;

ˌkəl-di-ˈsak,

ˌku̇l-

plural cul-de-sacs ˈkəl-di-ˌsaks 

ˈku̇l-;

ˌkəl-di-ˈsaks,

ˌku̇l-

also culs-de-sac ˈkəl(z)-di-ˌsak 

ˈku̇l(z)-;

ˌkəl(z)-di-ˈsak,

ˌku̇l(z)-

1

: a blind diverticulum or pouch

2

: a street or passage closed at one end

Our house is located on a quiet cul-de-sac.

3

: blind alley

If your job is a cul-de-sac, you have to quit or accept the fact that your career is over.

—Seth Godin

Examples of cul-de-sac in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The two-story home, set on half an acre at the end of a cul-de-sac in a wee glen in the Coldwater Canyon area, was built in 1957. —Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 25 Apr. 2024

Each is located on a cul-de-sac dominated by warehouses and office buildings — which, in the case of Earth, wasn’t necessarily a first choice. —David Browne, Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2024

The Zillow listing says the home is nestled at the end of a cul-de-sac, near hiking trails and Silicon Valley’s tech hubs. —Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2024

So to get that kind of multi-kid synergy, pick your cul-de-sac carefully — then hope the kids aren’t in cars all day chasing travel leagues. —Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2024

The company’s design shop is in the Bay Area, in a cul-de-sac behind Pivotal. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024

Perched atop a gated 2.2-acre promontory in the exclusive Carbon Mesa enclave, at the end of a secluded cul-de-sac high above La Costa Beach, the modern gray-hued structure was built in the mid-1990s. —Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2024

Frustrated and sometimes furious with a Netanyahu government that has often ignored its advice on how to conduct military operations in Gaza and publicly rejected U.S. visions for a permanent peace, the Biden administration now finds itself in a policy cul-de-sac from which there is no easy exit. —Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024

Sebastian Wayne Drake Rogers, was last seen Feb. 26 near a neighborhood cul-de-sac in Hendersonville, a city about 10 miles northeast of Nashville, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the agency that issued an endangered child alert on behalf of the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office. —Kirsten Fiscus, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, bottom of the bag

First Known Use

1738, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

cul-de-sac

noun

ˈkəl-di-ˌsak, ˈku̇l-; ˌkəl-di-ˈ, ˌku̇l- 

plural culs-de-sac ˈkəl(z)-, ˈku̇l(z)-, ˌkəl(z)-, ˌku̇l(z)-  also cul-de-sacs -ˌsaks, -ˈsaks 

1

: a blind diverticulum or pouch

also : the closed end of such a pouch

2

: pouch of douglas