See Also:

end(2) (iou)



end noun.
[Old English ende = Old Frisian enda, -e, Old Saxon endi (Dutch einde), Old High German enti (German Ende), Old Norse endir, endi, Gothic andeis, from Germanic, from Indo-European: cf. Sanskrit anta end, boundary, death.]
I. With ref. to space.
An extreme limit or outermost part of a portion of space or of something extended in space. obsolete exc. in the end of the earth, the ends of the earth, etc. below. OE.
b. A boundary. LME-L16.
A limit of size or quantity. Now usu. in neg. contexts. OE.
J. S. Mill There was no end to the advantages.
A division or region of a country, city, etc.; obsolete exc. in east end s.v. EAST adjective, west end s.v. WEST adjective. OE.
b. An outlying part of a village or small town; an outlying property. Usu. preceded by a descriptive name. M19.
E. M. Forster Howards End.
A proportion, a fraction. Only with adjectives of quantity. obsolete exc. dial. OE.
b. A piece that has been detached or left; a fragment, a remnant. L15.
CIGARETTE-end.
P. Stubbes Scraps or..short ends of lace.
c. A part, a portion; esp. (with possess. adjective) the part of an enterprise, activity, etc., with which a person is involved. E20.
N. Shute Honey would have to come back to this country to tell us his end of it. fig.: S. Brill Glich is the financial end, but policy comes from me.
Either of the two extremities of a line, or of the greatest dimension of any object; a part of anything which includes either of its two extremities. ME.
J. Wesley I was quickly wet to my toe's end. J. Rathbone Mr. Curtis remained standing at the end of the bed. R. Campbell We would corner him at the shallow end of the bath. L. Garfield There was a disturbance at the other end of the hall.
b. Bowls & Curling. A portion of play in which all the bowls or stones are delivered from one particular end of the green or rink. L17.
c. Archery. The place at which a mark is set up; the number of arrows shot from one end of a range. E19.
d. One half or side of a sports ground, a court, etc.; the part occupied by either of two opposing teams or players. M19.
D. L. Sayers The slogger smote a vigorous ball from the factory end.
e. Amer. Football. A player at the end of the line; a winger; the position occupied by such a player. L19.
The surface which bounds an object at either extremity; the head of a cask. E16.
a. A length of thread pointed with a bristle. Also more fully shoemaker's end. L16.
b. In full cable's end. A short length of cable. M17.
c. N. Amer. In full end of steel. The limit to which a railway extends; a terminus. E20.
II. With ref. to time or serial order.
The limit of duration of a period of time; the termination or conclusion of an action, process, state, etc. OE.
Daily Telegraph Mr Benn did not speak beyond thanking the Chancellor at the beginning and end of the meeting. attrib.: Scotsman New annual premiums received..totalled 16.41 million in the three months to end-September.
b. The latter or final part. LME.
Termination of existence; destruction, downfall; a person's death. OE.
S. Leacock If I should meet my end here.
Ultimate state or condition. Chiefly in biblical quotations and allusions, often misinterpreted in sense 9. OE.
A termination of doubt or debate; a resolution, a settlement. ME-M16.
The completion of an action; the accomplishment of a purpose. ME-L17.
An intended result; an aim, a purpose. ME.
V. Woolf Everybody in the crowded street..had some end in view.
An outcome, a result. Now rare. LME.
A final cause or purpose; the object for which a thing exists. LME.
H. J. Laski His love of liberty, which is the true end of government.
Phrases: all ends over, all ends up thoroughly. and there's an end, and so an end arch. and this is, or shall be, an end. at a loose end: see LOOSE adjective. at an end finished, exhausted. at loose ends: see LOOSE adjective. at one's wit's end: see WIT noun. at the end at last. at the end of the day: see DAY noun. be on the receiving end, be at the receiving end: see RECEIVING adjective. best end: see BEST adjective etc. be the end of be the death or downfall of. big end: see BIG adjective. bitter end: see BITTER adjective, noun2. BUSINESS end. cable's end: see sense 7b above. change ends switch from occupying one half of a ground, court, etc., to the other, and change the direction of play. choose ends select the direction in which one wishes to play. come to a bad end, come to an end: see COME verb. deep end: see DEEP adjective. defensive end: see DEFENSIVE adjective 1. dirty end of the stick: see DIRTY adjective. east end: see EAST adjective. end of steel: see sense 7c above. end on with the end facing one, or facing any object; with the end adjoining the end of the next object. end to end with the ends in contact, lengthways. for an end, for end in conclusion, finally. for this end = to this end below. from end to end from one extremity to the other, throughout the length of something. get hold of the wrong end of the stick: see STICK noun1. go end for end Nautical (of a boat) be upset. have at one's fingers' end, have at one's tongue's end know by heart. have the better end (of the staff), have the worse end (of the staff) get the best, or worst, of it. hinder end: see HINDER adjective. in the end ultimately, in the long run. keep one's end up sustain one's part in an undertaking or performance; hold one's own. little end: see LITTLE adjective. loose end: see LOOSE adjective. make an end of put a stop to. make both ends meet, make ends meet live within one's income; maintain an adequate income. no end colloq. (a) a vast number or amount of, a remarkable example of; (b) adverbial very much. odds and ends: see ODDS noun 2b. on end (a) in an upright position; (b) consecutively, continuously. put an end to stop, abolish, destroy. rear end: see REAR adjective1, adverb & noun. right on end consecutively, immediately. shallow end: see SHALLOW adjective, noun, & adverb. sharp end: see SHARP adjective & adverb. shift end for end Nautical reverse (a rope, spar, etc.) so that one end is where the other used to be; upset (a boat). shoemaker's end: see sense 7a above. small end: see SMALL adjective. sticky end: see STICKY adjective2 4b. straight on end = right on end above. the beginning of the end: see BEGINNING noun 4. the end (a) colloq. the last straw, the limit of endurability; (b) US slang the best, the ultimate. the end of one's tether: see TETHER noun. the end of the earth: see the ends of the earth below. the end of the line (a) = the end of the road below; (b) the last goods in stock of a particular design or class. the end of the road fig. the point at which hope or endeavour has to be abandoned. the end of the world fig. a calamitous matter or situation (only in neg. contexts). the ends of the earth, the end of the earth the most distant regions of the earth. the right end of the stick: see STICK noun1. the thin end of the wedge: see WEDGE noun. the world's end: see WORLD noun. the wrong end of the stick: see STICK noun1. tight end: see TIGHT adjective. to the end of the chapter: see CHAPTER noun. to the end that in order that. to this end for this purpose. turn end for end put each end of (a thing) where the other end used to be. west end: see WEST adjective. without end endlessly, for ever. world without end: see WORLD noun.
Comb.: end-around noun & adjective (a) noun (Amer. Football) an offensive play in which an end runs with the ball behind his or her own team's line and round the opposite end; (b) adjective (Computing) involving the transfer of a digit from one end of a register to the other; end-artery Anatomy an artery which supplies almost all the blood to a part of the body and does not anastomose with itself or other arteries; end-game the final stage of a game of chess, bridge, etc., when few men or cards remain; end-gate US a tailboard; end grain the grain of wood seen when it is cut across the growth rings; end-leaf a usu. blank leaf inserted at one or other end of a bound book; end line (a) a boundary line marking the end of a field or court in various games; (b) a line forming a conclusion; end-man US (chiefly Hist.) a man at the end of a line of blackface minstrels who engaged in comic repartee with the interlocutor; end-member the item at one end of a series; end moraine: formed or forming at the forward edge of a glacier; endnote: similar to a footnote but placed with others at the end of a book or chapter; end organ Anatomy a specialized encapsulated ending of a sensory or motor nerve; end-paper a blank leaf placed at the beginning or end of a book (usu. in pl.); end-piece a piece at the end of a structure or composition; end-plate Anatomy each of the discoidal expansions of a motor nerve where its branches terminate on a muscle fibre; end-play a method of play employed in the last few tricks of a game of bridge in order to force an opponent into making a disadvantageous discard or lead; end-point (a) the final stage of a process, period, etc.; Chemistry the point in a titration (usu. marked by a colour change) at which a reaction is complete; (b) a point at the end of a line; end-product a final product, esp. of a radioactive decay series or a manufacturing process; end result the final outcome; end run US (a) Football an attempt to run with the ball round one flank of the team; (b) an evasive tactic, esp. in war or politics; end-scraper Archaeology a flint scraper whose working edge is at one end of a blade or flake, transverse to the long axis; end standard a standard of length in the form of a metal bar or block, two of whose faces are the standard distance apart; end-stopped adjective (of verse) having a pause at the end of each line; end user the ultimate user of a product; end zone N. Amer. (a) the rectangular area at each end of a football field between the end line and the goal-line; (b) in ice hockey, a section at each end of a rink extending from the neutral zone to the goal-line.