Dead-end

/ˈdɛdɛnd/ · adjective

Meaning

Going nowhere; blocked..

Definitions by Sense

1. Going nowhere; blocked.
2. (US) To come to a dead-end.
3. (by extension) To come to nothing; to reach a hopeless situation.
4. A road with no exit.
5. (by extension, figuratively) A position that offers no hope of progress.

Example Sentences

a dead-end street

a dead-end job

[...] as it approached Platform 9 at Moorgate, the train, which ought to have been going at 15 miles an hour, was travelling at 35 m.p.h., and apparently accelerating. It smashed into the head wall of the 60-foot dead-end tunnel because, as we have seen, the Metropolitan's plans to extend the line south had come to nothing.

Watch out! The road dead-ends in 200 yards and there's nowhere to turn around!

Dumas' tangle of unrequited, misplaced and dead-ended love

We turned into the street and realised it was a dead-end.

Mary realised her relationship with Jim had hit a dead-end.

Synonyms for dead-end

Antonyms for dead-end

Related Words

Word Forms

• more dead-end
• most dead-end
• deadend
• dead-ends
• dead-ending
• dead-ended

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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