Cul`-de-sac" (ku`de-s?k" ∨ kul`de-s?k"), n.; pl. Culs-de-sac (ku`- or kulz`-). [ F., lit., bottom of a bag.]

1.

A passage with only one outlet, as a street closed at one end; a blind alley; hence, a trap.

2. Mil.

a position in which an army finds itself with no way of exit but to the front.

3. Anat.

Any bag-shaped or tubular cavity, vessel, or organ, open only at one end.

 

© Webster 1913.