blind alley
    n 1: a street with only one way in or out [syn: blind alley,
         cul de sac, dead-end street, impasse]
    2: (figurative) a course of action that is unproductive and
       offers no hope of improvement; "all the clues led the police
       into blind alleys"; "so far every road that we've been down
       has turned out to be a blind alley"

Blind \Blind\, a. [AS.; akin to D., G., OS., Sw., & Dan. blind,
   Icel. blindr, Goth. blinds; of uncertain origin.]
   1. Destitute of the sense of seeing, either by natural defect
      or by deprivation; without sight.
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            He that is strucken blind can not forget
            The precious treasure of his eyesight lost. --Shak.
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   2. Not having the faculty of discernment; destitute of
      intellectual light; unable or unwilling to understand or
      judge; as, authors are blind to their own defects.
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            But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more,
            That they may stumble on, and deeper fall. --Milton.
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   3. Undiscerning; undiscriminating; inconsiderate.
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            This plan is recommended neither to blind
            approbation nor to blind reprobation. --Jay.
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   4. Having such a state or condition as a thing would have to
      a person who is blind; not well marked or easily
      discernible; hidden; unseen; concealed; as, a blind path;
      a blind ditch.
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   5. Involved; intricate; not easily followed or traced.
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            The blind mazes of this tangled wood. --Milton.
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   6. Having no openings for light or passage; as, a blind wall;
      open only at one end; as, a blind alley; a blind gut.
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   7. Unintelligible, or not easily intelligible; as, a blind
      passage in a book; illegible; as, blind writing.
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   8. (Hort.) Abortive; failing to produce flowers or fruit; as,
      blind buds; blind flowers.
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   Blind alley, an alley closed at one end; a cul-de-sac.

   Blind axle, an axle which turns but does not communicate
      motion. --Knight.

   Blind beetle, one of the insects apt to fly against people,
      esp. at night.

   Blind cat (Zool.), a species of catfish (Gronias
      nigrolabris), nearly destitute of eyes, living in caverns
      in Pennsylvania.

   Blind coal, coal that burns without flame; anthracite coal.
      --Simmonds.

   Blind door, Blind window, an imitation of a door or
      window, without an opening for passage or light. See
      Blank door or Blank window, under Blank, a.

   Blind level (Mining), a level or drainage gallery which has
      a vertical shaft at each end, and acts as an inverted
      siphon. --Knight.

   Blind nettle (Bot.), dead nettle. See Dead nettle, under
      Dead.

   Blind shell (Gunnery), a shell containing no charge, or one
      that does not explode.

   Blind side, the side which is most easily assailed; a weak
      or unguarded side; the side on which one is least able or
      disposed to see danger. --Swift.

   Blind snake (Zool.), a small, harmless, burrowing snake, of
      the family Typhlopid[ae], with rudimentary eyes.

   Blind spot (Anat.), the point in the retina of the eye
      where the optic nerve enters, and which is insensible to
      light.

   Blind tooling, in bookbinding and leather work, the
      indented impression of heated tools, without gilding; --
      called also blank tooling, and blind blocking.

   Blind wall, a wall without an opening; a blank wall.
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