Dictionary

dead-end en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˈdɛdɛnd/

Meanings

1. (also, figuratively) Going nowhere; blocked.
   • [...] 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. 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 124:
   • a dead-end street
   • So where did all the dead-end jobs come from in the first place? 2014 May 25, Tom Clark, “To grasp the dead-end jobs boom, head to the car wash”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • I felt trapped in a dead-end job.
   • In a West End town, a dead end world / The East End boys and West End girls 1984, Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe, “West End Girls”, performed by Pet Shop Boys:
   • Livin' in this house with no furnace, unfurnished / And I'm sick of workin' dead-end jobs with lame pay 1999, “Rock Bottom”, in The Slim Shady LP, performed by Eminem:

Forms

Translations (6)

grc ἀδιέξοδος (blocked) · bg задънен (blocked) · id buntu (blocked) · fr sans issue (blocked) · fi umpi- (blocked) · es sin salida / futuro / porvenir (blocked)

dead-end en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /dɛdˈɛnd/

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of dead end: a road with no exit.
   alt of dead end
   • We turned into the street and realised it was a dead-end.
2. (alt-of, alternative, figuratively) Alternative spelling of dead end: a position that offers no hope of progress.
   alt of dead end
   • “We are at something of a strategic dead-end,” said Richard N. Haass, a longtime diplomat who served at the State Department and the National Security Council under several administrations, including George W. Bush’s during the early days of the Iraq war. 2026 July 10, David E. Sanger, quoting Richard N. Haass, “Bombing and a Tentative Accord Didn’t Work. Does Trump Have a Plan C for Iran?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • Mary realised her relationship with Jim had hit a dead-end.
   • However, there is evidence that he has reached a political dead-end. 2024 September 3, Alon Pinkas, “As furious protesters take to the streets, Netanyahu may well have reached his political dead-end”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Forms

dead-end en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /dɛdˈɛnd/

Meanings

1. (US) To come to a dead-end.
   • Watch out! The road dead-ends in 200 yards and there's nowhere to turn around!
2. (broadly) To come to nothing; to reach a hopeless situation.
   • Dumas' tangle of unrequited, misplaced and dead-ended love 1986 February 1, Michael Bronski, “Mock Homage to Fassbinder's Life & Films”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 28, page 6:

Forms