/kul"deuh sak", -sak', kool"-/ ; Fr. /kyuudeu sannk"/ , n. , pl. culs-de-sac /kulz"deuh sak", -sak', koolz"-/ ; Fr. /kyuudeu sannk"/ .
1. a street, lane, etc., closed at one end; blind alley; dead-end street.
2. any situation in which further progress is impossible.
3. the hemming in of a military force on all sides except behind.
4. Anat. a saclike cavity, tube, or the like, open only at one end, as the cecum.
[ 1730-40; ]