beam-ends
Americanplural noun
idioms
-
on her beam-ends, heeled so far on one side that the deck is practically vertical.
The schooner was blown over on her beam-ends.
-
on one's / the beam-ends, in desperate straits, especially financial straits. Also on the beam's ends.
plural noun
-
the ends of a vessel's beams
-
(of a vessel) heeled over through an angle of 90°
-
-
out of resources; destitute
-
desperate
-
Etymology
Origin of beam-ends
First recorded in 1765–75
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the ruinous days of September 1940, a bomb blasted two of the museum's rooms into reportedly picturesque and possibly symbolic confusion: Hitler lurched on his beam-ends, his head chipped to its core.
From Time Magazine Archive
In an instant after, the ship was thrown on her beam-ends, her gunwales under water, and passengers tumbling and rolling over each other.
From Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military Career of John Shipp Late a Lieut. in His Majesty's 87th Regiment by Shipp, John
But the Dart was already lying on her beam-ends, heaving, groaning and quivering throughout every timber, in the fierce embrace of the tremendous blast!
From The Portland Sketch Book by Various
I'd got on my beam-ends in Oporto, and couldn't afford to be fastidious about a berth.
From The Recipe for Diamonds by Hyne, Charles John Cutcliffe Wright
I was on my beam-ends, without a dollar in my pocket, when he held out his hand to me.
From Long Odds by Bindloss, Harold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
