1
a
: lacking opportunities especially for advancement
a dead-end job
b
: lacking an exit
a dead-end street
2
: unruly
dead-end kids
dead-ended; dead-ending; dead-ends
: to come to a dead end : terminate
the road dead-ends at the lake
the investigation dead-ended
1
: an end (as of a street) without an exit
2
: a position, situation, or course of action that leads to nothing further
Examples of dead-end in a Sentence
Verb
after several fruitless years, the research seems to have simply dead-ended
Noun
We came to a dead end and had to turn around.
My career has hit a dead end.
Recent Examples on the Web
Alicia Pederson, Chicago Tribune, 19 May 2025
Nestled at the end of a long dead-end drive and surrounded by Napeague State Park, the 1,400-square-foot house recalls a Hamptons of years past—the one populated by the likes of Norman Jaffe and Jackson Pollock—with the beach a short walk away.
—Lila Allen, Architectural Digest, 15 May 2025
Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 15 Mar. 2023
Commissioner Andrew Brink said without a street connection to the east, the roundabout effectively will dead-end within the development.
—Stacy Ryburn, Arkansas Online, 14 Mar. 2023
Marlowe Starling, CNN Money, 14 May 2025
Sooner or later, the official went on, that may lead Trump and Putin into a more sweeping, and strategic, dead end.
—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 7 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for dead-end
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Adjective
No more dead-end land deals, blighted parcels or families ditching the city.
—Alicia Pederson, Chicago Tribune, 19 May 2025
Nestled at the end of a long dead-end drive and surrounded by Napeague State Park, the 1,400-square-foot house recalls a Hamptons of years past—the one populated by the likes of Norman Jaffe and Jackson Pollock—with the beach a short walk away.
—Lila Allen, Architectural Digest, 15 May 2025
Verb
Where any normal car would need a three-point turn (down yet another dead-end Camden side street, for instance), the taxi simply spins around and goes.
—Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 15 Mar. 2023
Commissioner Andrew Brink said without a street connection to the east, the roundabout effectively will dead-end within the development.
—Stacy Ryburn, Arkansas Online, 14 Mar. 2023
Noun
Facing this dead end, the scientists realized ancient poems could come in handy.
—Marlowe Starling, CNN Money, 14 May 2025
Sooner or later, the official went on, that may lead Trump and Putin into a more sweeping, and strategic, dead end.
—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 7 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for dead-end
Cite this Entry
“Dead-end.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dead-end. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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