Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blind, alley. A street or passageway that leads nowhere.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A course of inquiry that leads nowhere.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
(figurative) a course of action that is unproductive and offers no hope of improvement
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: course, course of action
noun
a street with only one way in or out
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: cul de sac, dead-end street, impasse
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: thoroughfare
History
The notion of ‘blindness’ comes from the lack of a through passage (the ‘eye’). Attested since 1583, and used figuratively since the mid-19th century.
