A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (from French for 'bottom of bag'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet.

The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology and traffic signs include many different alternatives. Some of these are used only regionally. In the United States and other countries, cul-de-sac is often not an exact synonym for dead end and refers to dead ends with a circular end, allowing for easy turning at the end of the road. In Australia and Canada, they are usually referred to as a court when they have a bulbous end.

In the 1960s the cul-de-sac attained systematic international application in planned new cities such as Doxiadis’ Islamabad (1960). In the UK, new towns such as Harlow (1947) by Sir Frederick Gibberd and Milton Keynes (1967) incorporated culs-de-sac and crescents in their layouts.

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