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

The ice actually ground her up out of the water till she lay with her beam-ends on the ice, and her keel completely exposed.

From Wild Adventures round the Pole The Cruise of the "Snowbird" Crew in the "Arrandoon" by Stables, Gordon

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

It was very dark, Jimmy could not see the hatch, and the Cetacea appeared to have fallen over on her beam-ends.

From The Secret of the Reef by Bindloss, Harold

It's always the unexpected that happens, they say," William went on, "but I confess I never expected to be flung on my beam-ends as I have been.

From The Squire's Daughter by Hocking, Silas K(itto)