to hit a dead end
8
4.6
- phrasal verb
:
llegar a un callejón sin salida
- No, we've hit a dead end.
If things go wrong, you hit a dead end, as you will.
- If things go wrong, you hit a dead end, as you will.
Examples
-
But our investigation has hit a dead end.
-
They know when a path has hit a dead end and find new directions.
Blog text (31) -
Uh, things had kind of hit a dead end for me back there.
-
Many of the cases have hit a dead end.
Academic text (2016) -
But I felt like I kind of hit a dead end right before you came in and got me.
Blog text (19) -
There I hit a dead end.
Fiction book (1996) -
We investigate the case, we investigate the leads... ...we hit a dead end.
-
Looks like you've hit a dead end.
-
Their methodology was to brainstorm every possible path to their goal and pursue each possibility until they achieved success or hit a dead end.
Blog text (32) -
After several weeks of research, our project has hit a dead end.
Synonyms
119
4.6
Fail to make progress or get any result
21
5.8
To become stuck and unable to make progress because of problems
13
3.4
Stop moving or working completely
12
7.7
To reach a point where you cannot continue because you are very tired or stuck
6
4.6
Fail to produce any result
5
5.5
To meet an unexpected problem that stops progress
5
5.8
To get stuck and stop making progress
2
5.3
To face an unexpected problem that prevents progress
Progress stops because people disagree or something blocks it
Suddenly stop or fail because of a big problem
Antonyms
How Blocked
8
4.6
2
5.3
- Informal
5
5.5
166
4.3
251
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from known parts: 'hit' in the sense of encounter/reach combined with 'dead end' (a final stopping point with no way forward) yields the sense of encountering a situation where no further progress is possible. This compositional metaphor is predictable and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the idiomatic sense.
Etymology
The phrase hit a dead end comes from the clear image of a road that stops with no way through: you hit the solid end of the dead end and must stop. So when a plan or project 'cannot move forward', we say it hit a dead end.