up a blind alley

up a blind alley

At an impasse; at a point where no more progress is possible or no solution can be found. I've gone around and around with various ways to fix this, but I'm just up a blind alley at this point. This merger is going to be up a blind alley if we can't resolve this legal dispute.
See also: alley, blind, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*up a blind alley

Fig. at a dead end; on a route that leads nowhere. (*Typically:be ~; go ~.) I have been trying to find out something about my ancestors, but I'm up a blind alley. I can't find anything. The police are up a blind alley in their investigation of the crime.
See also: alley, blind, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • go around and around
  • get (someone) around the table
  • get around the table
  • find way around
  • around (one's) ears
  • around and around
  • bomb around
  • gaze around
  • be up and around
  • at around
References in periodicals archive
Even the most sophisticated new technology can occasionally send you up a blind alley - or a flooded tunnel.
Satnav in hot water as driver's sent into flood
And with tax cuts, tough talk on immigration and ranting about Europe, he's heading up a blind alley. Cameron's retreating to a traditional Tory platform with a green tinge.
It's the same old Tory.
The Government's own advisors have since admitted that the research led up a blind alley.
Letter: Cruel to animals
But that dichotomy runs up a blind alley, says Jenkins.
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