blind alley 
noun
1An alley or road that is closed at one end; a cul-de-sac.The nearby Jdeide Christian quarter - all narrow lanes, arched blind alleys and enigmatic mansions, and beits with elaborate doors - is predominantly Armenian....
- I took several blind alleys whilst attempting to follow the 18th century street plan.
- Traditional mazes have a way of getting in and out - they have lots of blind alleys, but the basic premise is that eventually a way out can be found.
1.1A course of action leading nowhere: many technologies that show early promise lead up blind alleys...
- It's a story of a free-spirited, independent, optimistic woman who finds that a huge inheritance leads into the blind alley of a loveless, cold marriage.
- The development of the national spirit in its present form leads into blind alleys.
- The defender's positional indiscipline was one of the downsides for Celtic in an uncertain first period, during which they resorted to a ponderous short passing game that led them down blind alleys.
- false-hearted
- false hellebore
- false helleborine
- falsehood
- false imprisonment
- falsely
- false mastic
- false memory
- false memory syndrome
- false modesty
- false move
- false negative
- falseness
- false oxlip
- false position
- false positive
- false pregnancy
- false pretences
- false rib
- false scorpion
- false start
- false step
- false sunbird
- false teeth
- false topaz