bookend

[ book-end ]

/ ˈbʊkˌɛnd /

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noun

a support placed at the end of a row of books to hold them upright, usually used in pairs.

one of two things occurring or located at either end of something else: two events that served as bookends to my career.

verb (used with object)

to occur or be located at the beginning and end of: His term in office was bookended by crises.

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ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

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Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

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Origin of bookend

First recorded in 1905–10; book + end¹

Words nearby bookend

bookcase, book club, bookcraft, bookcrossing, booked up, bookend, Booker Prize, book gill, book group, bookie, book in

How to use bookend in a sentence

The view of the Alaska Range, the joyous feeling of wind on my cheeks, and a buoyant sensation of wild abandon are forever stitched in my memory as the perfect bookend to a perfect day in the park.
The Perfect Summer Day in Denali National Park|Emily Pennington|May 24, 2021|Outside Online
Leno also appears locked in at left tackle, and Cosmi or Lucas could be the other bookend.
Washington Football Team releases veteran right tackle Morgan Moses|Sam Fortier|May 20, 2021|Washington Post
In fact, her surveillance became the bookends to all of his appointments.
My Pandemic Baby Is Pulling Us Out of Our Cozy Cave. But How Will the World See a Disabled Mother Like Me?|Rebekah Taussig|April 28, 2021|Time
It served as an unsettling bookend to a college sports year that began last summer with the flap over Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy wearing a One America News T-shirt.
The difference between a plantation and college sports: A plantation didn’t pretend|Jerry Brewer|March 12, 2021|Washington Post

What began in a church choir as a kindergartner now finds a cinematic bookend in Tran’s 30s, with a role and a prayer.
Kelly Marie Tran’s journey to becoming a fighting Disney princess: ‘It feels like an absolute miracle’|Michael Cavna|March 5, 2021|Washington Post
Your death is a tragic bookend to a year touted as the “transgender tipping point.”
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen|Parker Molloy|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
These weeks, and especially fast days that bookend them, are about remembering the experience of loss.
Why Firing Zone 918 is Relevant Today|Elisheva Goldberg|June 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Farm kids are educated early about the events that bookend life.
‘Luck’ Runs Out: If Horses Die While Cameras Roll, You Must Quit|Max Watman|March 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And it became a sort of bookend to my first experience with him.
Nathan Lane's Final Musical?|Kevin Sessums|April 8, 2010|DAILY BEAST
But 9/11 has defined our stubbornly nameless decade, along with the bookend election of Barack Obama.
Bush Wrecked 9/11|John Avlon|September 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Before I could follow, Nan had dropped the bookend and flung herself into my arms.
The Scapegoat|Richard Maples
She held a heavy bookend poised to strike at Ashe, who was in front of her, moving stealthily forward.
The Scapegoat|Richard Maples

British Dictionary definitions for bookend

book end

noun

one of a pair of usually ornamental supports for holding a row of books upright

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012