bookend

[book-end]

noun

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

2. 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)

1. to occur or be located at the beginning and end of.

   His term in office was bookended by crises.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bookend¹

First recorded in 1905–10; book + end ¹

Example Sentences

A neat bookend to another traumatic 12 months in Welsh rugby's soap opera.

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The European Cup record holders then added a further two titles in 2022 - again beating Liverpool in the final - and 2024 to bookend a power period by the heavyweights of La Liga.

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The photographs that bookend “Here to There,” respectively titled “Decision Time” and “Decision Made,” were snapped through Mr. Winter’s windshield mere moments apart.

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San Sebastián calls to us as it did Jake to put a bookend on his own fiesta.

Read more on Salon

“Better Broken” is a bookend to that moment, coming out right as her children are emptying the nest.

Read more on Los Angeles Times