end game

or endgame

Save This Word!

noun

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

the late or final stages of any activity: the end game of the negotiations.

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of end game

First recorded in 1880–85

Words nearby end game

endergonic, endermic, Enders, en déshabillé, end-feet, end game, endgate, end grain, endhand, Endicott, ending

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use end game in a sentence

“The biggest end game is to grow our subscribers,” said Mark Smith, director of social and operations at The Washington Post.
How The Washington Post’s new Instagram editor will try to boost its subscription business|Sara Guaglione|February 2, 2021|Digiday
The end game of The Patriots was societal control through combating “junk data” and misinformation on the Internet.
The best presidents in video games|Gene Park|January 20, 2021|Washington Post
It’s vaccines that hasten that end game—and save millions of lives in the process.
Too Many Americans Still Mistrust the COVID-19 Vaccines. Here's Why|Jeffrey Kluger|January 5, 2021|Time
The end game is for the players to partner up for “some economic interaction,” the authors write.
Larry David and the Game Theory of Anonymous Donations - Facts So Romantic|Brian Gallagher|December 16, 2020|Nautilus

Depending on which side missions you complete, for example, more options become available for the end game.
‘Cyberpunk 2077’ is a thrill ride through an ugly, unexamined world|Elise Favis|December 11, 2020|Washington Post
Yet this, in the end, is a book from which one emerges sad, gloomy, disenchanted, at least if we agree to take it seriously.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This is going to be the Game of Thrones of U.S. Senate races.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Dora is seen getting dressed as a mermaid by a cursor being manned by some omniscient game player.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In the end, the clarity that comes from moments of horror can help us recommit to deeper principles.
Why We Stand With Charlie Hebdo—And You Should Too|John Avlon|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In the end, I find it never fails to modernize even the most dramatic things.
‘Empire’ Review: Hip-Hop Musical Chairs with an Insane Soap Opera Twist|Judnick Mayard|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And to tell the truth, she couldn't help wishing he could see, so he could make the game livelier.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
I presume the twenty-five or thirty miles at this end is unhealthy, even for natives, but it surely need not be so.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
On to Gaba Tepe just in time to see the opening, the climax and the end of the dreaded Turkish counter attack.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
He wanted to tell her that if she called her father, it would mean the end of everything for them, but he withheld this.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Under the internal pressure his whiskers stood on end and his face grew red.
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) Ogden

British Dictionary definitions for end game

endgame

/ (ˈɛndˌɡeɪm) /

noun

Also called: ending the closing stage of a game of chess, in which only a few pieces are left on the board

the closing stage of any of certain other games

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with end game

end game

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.