A street or passage closed at one end; a dead-end road, typically with a circular area for turning around.
Pure French meaning 'bottom of the bag' - literally the closed end of a sack where nothing can get out. French anatomists used this term for body parts that were closed at one end, like certain intestinal pouches. English borrowed it for dead-end streets because they resembled the closed end of a bag where cars get 'trapped.'
Try Another Word