|kəldə̇|sak, -dē|- also |ku̇l- sometimes -säk or -sȧk, F ku̅e̅dsȧk noun
( plural culs-de-sac “ ; also cul-de-sacs -ks)
Etymology: French, literally, bottom of the bag
1. anatomy
a. : a blind diverticulum or pouch (as the cecum) ; also : the closed end of such a pouch
b. or cul-de-sac of douglas usually capitalized 2d D
[after James Douglas died 1742 Scottish physician and anatomist]
: pouch of douglas
2. : a passage or alley with no exit forward : blind alley ; especially : a street that is closed at one end but usually has a circular area for turning around at that end
3. : a point beyond which further advance or progress is or seems to be impossible
worked himself into a cul-de-sac within three or four hundred feet of the top — Andrew Hamilton & Chandler Harris
his own investigations into the substantiality of matter lead him into a cul-de-sac — Leslie Paul