cul-de-sac
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
(Redirected from cul de sac)
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
Borrowing from French cul-de-sac, from cul (“bottom”) + de (“of”) + sac (“bag, sack”)
Pronunciation [edit]
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Audio (US) (file)
Noun [edit]
cul-de-sac (plural cul-de-sacs or culs-de-sac)
- A blind alley or dead end street.
- A circular area at the end of a dead end street to allow cars to turn around, designed so children can play on the street, with little or no through-traffic.
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- 2010 January 17, Cara Buckley, “A Suburban Treasure, Left to Die”, New York Times, page Section MB; Column 0; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 1:
- 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.
- 2010 January 17, Cara Buckley, “A Suburban Treasure, Left to Die”, New York Times, page Section MB; Column 0; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 1:
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- An impasse.
- 2005 February 14, National Review:
- Physics seems, in fact, to have got itself into a cul-de-sac, obsessing over theories so mathematically abstruse that nobody even knows how to test them.
- 2005 February 14, National Review:
- (medicine) A sack-like cavity or tube open at one end only.
Translations [edit]
blind alley
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circular area at the end of a dead end street
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impasse — see impasse
medicine: a sacklike cavity or tube
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French [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
cul-de-sac m (plural culs-de-sac)
- dead end, cul-de-sac (a path that goes nowhere)
- impasse
