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

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

The man made a U-turn in a cul-de-sac and then started driving toward one of the deputies, according to the sheriff’s department. —Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2024

Here’s an extra hint to help guide you to the solution: The attaché ate his soufflé in the cul-de-sac waiting for his rendezvous. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

One week, his team went to a home on a cul-de-sac with two kids and a swing set — the kind of place families take their children trick-or-treating. —Lauren Peace, CNN, 27 Mar. 2024

Aguirre spoke Thursday from her front door on a cul-de-sac on Durance Court in the upper-middle-class neighborhood. —Antonio Planas, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024

The battle for the next two years of partisan political control will be waged door-to-door, from California’s beachside suburban cul-de-sacs to the tiny farm towns in the state’s fertile Central Valley. —Laurel Rosenhall, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 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