dead end
91
3.6
- noun
- /ˈdɛd ˈɛnd/
:
callejón sin salida
- At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Egypt's political system has reached a dead end.
- dead end of history
If your intuition told you he ain't it, it's a dead end situation.
- If your intuition told you he ain't it, it's a dead end situation.
- Are either of those things a complete dead end for a future relationship?
- And one of those key factors was not staying in dead end relationships.
- And you're presented with opportunity rather than dead ends, I think.
- But seeking money for its own sake is it is a dead end.
- And it basically was a dead end.
- So if there is an if you're in a dead end and there is no way, then you know when you need the pivot.
- Well, Musk's lawyers didn't go after the representations in the Agreement because this was a dead end.
- And it opens up so much more power because when you feel guilty, that can be a dead end.
- And who among us would deny that we sometimes feel less than powerful and that sometimes life can feel like a dead end?
- We've also hit a bit of a dead end, a bit of a stumbling block, an obstacle which is very frustrating.
- If things go wrong, you hit a dead end, as you will.
Examples
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OK, so let's first be clear about what a dead end relationship is.
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It seemed promising but it was just another dead end.
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Are either of those things a complete dead end for a future relationship?
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But it's a dead end down there!
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Looks like a dead end to me.
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So far it's a dead end.
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In the long run, however, both of these strategies may lead to dead ends.
Academic text (1994) -
And it was just a moment where I felt like I hit like a dead end where I just didn't know what to do.
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And so for example, let's say you're at a dead end in your job.
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After several attempts to solve the problem, it became clear that we had hit a dead end.
Synonyms
42
6.3
A situation in a game or argument where no one can make progress
39
4.9
Something that has no chance of success
38
8.1
A situation where people cannot agree and nothing can move forward
35
3.5
A time when movement or activity stops completely
19
5.8
A situation where people cannot move forward because both sides refuse to agree
Antonyms
How Blocked
91
3.6
38
8.1
42
6.3
343
3.4
148
3.6
- Informal
19
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a situation in which no further progress is possible' is directly derivable from combining 'dead' (inactive, lacking life or activity) with 'end' (a final stopping point): together they signal a terminal point with no continuation. This compound is a common, mostly literal spatial term (a street with no exit) that is easily extended metaphorically to situations, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will generally infer the meaning.
Etymology
Dead end used for a situation comes from that same picture of a path that stops, where dead means 'no way forward' and end means the finish. That's why we call a plan or project with no progress a 'dead end'.