1
a
: lacking opportunities especially for advancement
a dead-end job
b
: lacking an exit
a dead-end street
2
: unruly
dead-end kids
dead-ended; dead-ending; dead-ends
: to come to a dead end : terminate
the road dead-ends at the lake
the investigation dead-ended
1
: an end (as of a street) without an exit
2
: a position, situation, or course of action that leads to nothing further
Examples of dead-end in a Sentence
Verb
after several fruitless years, the research seems to have simply dead-ended
Noun
We came to a dead end and had to turn around.
My career has hit a dead end.
Recent Examples on the Web
Calmatters, Mercury News, 10 Oct. 2025
In today’s uneasy job market and stubborn inflation, escaping a dead-end job can feel impossible.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2025
Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
The most promising of the three was Twin Oaks Court, a cluster of lots on a dead-end street sprouting from a frontage road along the I-280 freeway.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 10 Oct. 2025
Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2025
Yeomans’s team pursued them one by one, but each proved to be a dead end.
—Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dead-end
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Adjective
The most promising of the three was Twin Oaks Court, a cluster of lots on a dead-end street sprouting from a frontage road along the I-280 freeway.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 10 Oct. 2025
In today’s uneasy job market and stubborn inflation, escaping a dead-end job can feel impossible.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
The novel follows Julia Flang, a former gamer who lives with her uncle while working a series of dead-end jobs.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
The most promising of the three was Twin Oaks Court, a cluster of lots on a dead-end street sprouting from a frontage road along the I-280 freeway.
—Calmatters, Mercury News, 10 Oct. 2025
Noun
Despite three decades of dead ends, then-Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley said in June the department continues to receive and pursue leads year-round.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2025
Yeomans’s team pursued them one by one, but each proved to be a dead end.
—Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dead-end
Cite this Entry
“Dead-end.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dead-end. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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