cul-de-sac
See also: culdesac
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from French cul-de-sac, from cul (“bottom”) + de (“of”) + sac (“bag, sack”)
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈkʌldəsæk/
Audio (US): (file) - Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈkʌldəsak/
Noun
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.
- 2010 January 17, Cara Buckley, “A Suburban Treasure, Left to Die”, in 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.
- 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.
- (medicine) A sack-like cavity, a tube open at one end only.
Translations
blind alley — see dead end
circular area at the end of a dead end street
|
impasse — see impasse
medicine: a sacklike cavity or tube
French
Pronunciation
Noun
cul-de-sac m (plural culs-de-sac)
Further reading
- “cul-de-sac”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Portuguese
Noun
cul-de-sac m (plural culs-de-sac or cul-de-sacs or cul-de-sac)
- cul-de-sac; blind alley (street that leads nowhere)
- cul-de-sac (circular area at the end of a dead end street)
- (figurative) cul-de-sac; dead end; impasse
Synonyms
- (blind alley): rua sem saída, beco sem saída
- (impasse): impasse, beco sem saída
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