beam-ends

American  

[beem-endz] / ˈbimˌɛndz /

plural noun

1. Nautical. the ends of the transverse deck beams of a vessel.

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idioms

1. 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.

2. on one's / the beam-ends, in desperate straits, especially financial straits. Also on the beam's ends.

beam-ends British  

plural noun

1. the ends of a vessel's beams

2. (of a vessel) heeled over through an angle of 90°

3. 1. out of resources; destitute

   2. desperate

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Etymology

Origin of beam-ends

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

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 a few minutes the vessel filled and went on her beam-ends.

From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Drake, Samuel Adams

In twenty minutes the ship was under a cloud of canvas, and moving rapidly through the water, the ropes were all coiled down, and the watch again on their beam-ends.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 15 by Various

Everything was reeling about him; the yacht stood nearly upon her beam-ends as she climbed on the waves.

From A Captain of Industry Being the Story of a Civilized Man by Sinclair, Upton

Thrown at first almost on her beam-ends, she soon righted, and now she was tossed about like a cork.

From Annie o' the Banks o' Dee by Stables, Gordon