cul de sac
/ˈkʌldəsæk/noun
cul de sac is a noun meaning “Alternative form of cul-de-sac” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled C-U-L-D-E-S-A-C. The plural of cul de sac is cul-de-sacs or culs-de-sac.
What does cul de sac mean?
noun
- 1
Alternative form of cul-de-sac.
noun
- 1
A blind alley or dead end street.
- 2
A circular area at the end of a dead end street to allow cars to turn around, designed so children can play on the street, with little or no through-traffic.
- 3
An impasse.
- 4
A sacklike cavity, a tube open at one end only.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce cul de sac?
- US /ˈkʌldəsæk/
- UK /ˈkʌldəsak/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cul-de-sac.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cul de sac
- cul-de-sacs plural
- culs-de-sac plural
- culdesac
- cul de sacs plural
- culs de sac plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cul de sac in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bout de cul-de-sac résidentiel |
| German | Wendeplatte, Wendekreis, Wendehammer , Tasche |
| Portuguese | cul-de-sac, balão de retorno , saco, bolsa |
| Spanish | culdesac |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cul de sac come from?
Borrowed from French cul-de-sac, from cul (“bottom”) + de (“of”) + sac (“bag, sack”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).