bridge of no return

proper noun

A bridge crossing the military demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea.

OriginKorean 돌아올 수 없는 다리 →
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Meanings

proper nounthe bridge of no return
  1. A bridge crossing the military demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea.

    Three birthdays and 28 months later I was released at Panmunjom when the war ended and crossed the Bridge of No Return to rejoin the human race.

    1988, John S. Edwards, editor, American Ex-prisoners of War: Non Solum Armis, Turner Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 32

Origin

  1. Korean돌아올 수 없는 다리
  2. Englishbridge of no return

Calque of Korean 돌아올 수 없는 다리 (doraol su eomneun dari)

More words from Korean

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bridge of no return. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridge%20of%20no%20return

MLA

“bridge of no return.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridge%20of%20no%20return. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bridge of no return,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridge%20of%20no%20return.

Source: bridge of no return on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.