cul : Idioms & Phrases

• noun a passage with access only at one end
  dead end; cul.
  
• noun a street with only one way in or out
  blind alley; impasse; dead-end street.
  

WordNet

Cul`-de-sac" noun

Etymology

F., lit., bottom of a bag.

Wordforms

plural Culs-de-sac

Definitions

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