Blind alley

noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blind, alley. A street or passageway that leads nowhere.
  2. 2
    (figurative) a course of action that is unproductive and offers no hope of improvement wordnet
  3. 3
    A course of inquiry that leads nowhere. figuratively

    "[Raheem] Sterling was grateful that a glaring miss from [Jesse] Lingard's pass was rescued by a linesman's flag against the Manchester United midfielder, but he almost tried too hard as the game progressed and was running up blind alleys before he was replaced by Marcus Rashford after 68 minutes."

  4. 4
    a street with only one way in or out wordnet

Etymology

The notion of ‘blindness’ comes from the lack of a through passage (the ‘eye’). Attested since 1583, and used figuratively since the mid-19th century.

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