end game

American  

Or endgame

noun

1. Chess.  the final stage of a game, usually following the exchange of queens and the serious reduction of forces.

2. the late or final stages of any activity.

   the end game of the negotiations.

---

end game Idioms  

1. The final stage of some process, as in The book discussed the diplomatic end game resulting in the treaty. This term, dating from about 1880, comes from chess, where it denotes the stage of a game when most of the pieces have been removed from the board. In the mid-1900s it began to be transferred to other activities.

---

Etymology

Origin of end game

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

England survived by the skin of their teeth however and, after being edged out of a string of tight matches in 2024, they have found a happy habit of emerging from the end game victorious.

From BBC

Democrats lost the end game but may end up winning the narrative.

From Barron's

In other words, recognition was part of the end game.

From BBC

Chaos is the point, a crucial aspect of the psychological tactics deployed against the American public to distract us from their end game.

From Salon

It's quite clear that the end game is to try to reduce access to or eliminate access to this care for everybody.

From Salon