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dead end

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dead end

1. noun A road that leads nowhere. I knew my GPS was wrong when it told me to turn onto a road that came to a dead end.

2. adjective Prohibitive of progress or advancement. (Sometimes hyphenated.) Jerry decided he couldn't spend another minute working at that dead end job with no possibility for a promotion. The police received a lot of dead-end leads, but nothing that led them to the killer.

See also: dead, end

dead end

1. A passage that has no exit, as in This street's a dead end, so turn back. [Late 1800s]

2. An impasse or blind alley, allowing no progress to be made. For example, This job is a dead end; I'll never be able to advance. [c. 1920]

See also: dead, end