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Idioms

    at loose ends, without an occupation or plans; unsettled; uncertain: He spent two years wandering about the country at loose ends.
    at one's wit's end, at the end of one's ideas or mental resources; perplexed: I'm at my wit's end with this problem.Also at one's wits' end.
    end for end, in reverse position; inverted: The cartons were turned end for end.
    end on, with the end next to or facing: He backed the truck until it was end on with the loading platform.
    end to end, in a row with ends touching: The pipes were placed end to end on the ground.
    go off the deep end, Informal. to act in a reckless or agitated manner; lose emotional control: She went off the deep end when she lost her job.
    in the end, finally; after all: In the end they shook hands and made up.
    keep/hold one's end up, to perform one's part or share adequately: The work is demanding, but he's holding his end up.
    make an end of, to conclude; stop: Let's make an end of this foolishness and get down to work.
    make ends meet, to live within one's means: Despite her meager income, she tried to make ends meet.Also make both ends meet.
    no end, Informal. very much or many: They were pleased no end by the warm reception.
    on end,
    1. having the end down; upright: to stand a box on end.
    2. continuously; successively: They talked for hours on end.
    put an end to, to cause to stop; terminate; finish: The advent of sound in motion pictures put an end to many a silent star's career.

Origin of end

1
before 900; Middle English, Old English ende; cognate with Old Frisian enda, Middle Dutch e(i)nde, Old Saxon endi, Old High German anti, G Ende, Old Norse endi(r), Gothic andeis end < Germanic *anthjá-; akin to Sanskrit ánta- end
Related formsend·er, noun

Synonyms for end

4. tip, bound, limit, terminus.

Synonym study

5. End, close, conclusion, finish, outcome refer to the termination of something. End implies a natural termination or completion, or an attainment of purpose: the end of a day, of a race; to some good end. Close often implies a planned rounding off of something in process: the close of a conference. Conclusion suggests a decision or arrangement: All evidence leads to this conclusion; the conclusion of peace terms. Finish emphasizes completion of something begun: a fight to the finish. Outcome suggests the issue of something that was in doubt: the outcome of a game. 7. See aim.

end

2
[end]

verb (used with object) British Dialect.

to put wheat, hay, or other grain into a stack or barn.

Origin of end

2
1600–10; perhaps variant of dial. in to harvest (Old English innian to lodge, put up). See inn
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ends

top, edge, deadline, term, point, closure, finish, resolution, retirement, result, outcome, issue, conclusion, goal, side, demise, quit, halt, conclude, stop

Examples from the Web for ends

Contemporary Examples of ends

Historical Examples of ends

British Dictionary definitions for ends

end

1

noun

the extremity of the length of something, such as a road, line, etc
the surface at either extremity of a three-dimensional object
the extreme extent, limit, or degree of something
the most distant place or time that can be imaginedthe ends of the earth
the time at which something is concluded
  1. the last section or part
  2. (as modifier)the end office Related adjectives: final, terminal, ultimate
a share or parthis end of the bargain
(often plural) a remnant or fragment (esp in the phrase odds and ends)
a final state, esp death; destruction
the purpose of an action or existence
sport either of the two defended areas of a playing field, rink, etc
bowls curling a section of play from one side of the rink to the other
American football a player at the extremity of the playing line; wing
all ends up totally or completely
a sticky end informal, US and Canadian an unpleasant death
at a loose end or US and Canadian at loose ends without purpose or occupation
at an end exhausted or completed
at the end of the day See day (def. 10)
come to an end to become completed or exhausted
end on
  1. with the end pointing towards one
  2. with the end adjacent to the end of another object
go off the deep end informal to lose one's temper; react angrily
get one's end away slang to have sexual intercourse
in the end finally
keep one's end up
  1. to sustain one's part in a joint enterprise
  2. to hold one's own in an argument, contest, etc
make ends meet or make both ends meet to spend no more than the money one has
no end or no end of informal (intensifier)I had no end of work
on end
  1. upright
  2. without pause or interruption
the end informal
  1. the worst, esp something that goes beyond the limits of endurance
  2. mainly USthe best in quality
the end of the road the point beyond which survival or continuation is impossible
throw someone in at the deep end to put someone into a new situation, job, etc, without preparation or introduction

verb

to bring or come to a finish; conclude
to die or cause to die
(tr) to surpass; outdoa novel to end all novels
end it all informal to commit suicide
See also end up
Derived Formsender, noun

Word Origin for end

Old English ende; related to Old Norse endir, Gothic andeis, Old High German endi, Latin antiae forelocks, Sanskrit antya last

end

2

verb

(tr) British to put (hay or grain) into a barn or stack

Word Origin for end

Old English innian; related to Old High German innōn; see inn
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
Word Origin and History for ends

end

v.

Old English endian, from the source of end (n.). Related: Ended; ending.

end

n.

Old English ende "end, conclusion, boundary, district, species, class," from Proto-Germanic *andja (cf. Old Frisian enda, Old Dutch ende, Dutch einde, Old Norse endir "end;" Old High German enti "top, forehead, end," German ende, Gothic andeis "end"), originally "the opposite side," from PIE *antjo "end, boundary," from root *ant- "opposite, in front of, before" (see ante).

Original sense of "outermost part" is obsolete except in phrase ends of the earth. Sense of "destruction, death" was in Old English. Meaning "division or quarter of a town" was in Old English. The end "the last straw, the limit" (in a disparaging sense) is from 1929.

The phrase end run is first attested 1902 in U.S. football; extended to military tactics in World War II; general figurative sense is from 1968. End time in reference to the end of the world is from 1917. To end it all "commit suicide" is attested by 1911. Be-all and end-all is from Shakespeare ("Macbeth" I.vii.5).

Worldly wealth he cared not for, desiring onely to make both ends meet. [Thomas Fuller, "The History of the Worthies of England," 1662]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with ends

end

In addition to the idioms beginning with end

  • end game
  • end in itself
  • end justifies the means, the
  • end of one's rope, at the
  • end of the line
  • end run
  • ends of the earth, the
  • end to end
  • end up

also see:

  • all's well that ends well
  • at loose ends
  • at one's wit's end
  • be-all and end-all
  • beginning of the end
  • bitter end
  • burn the candle at both ends
  • can't see beyond the end of one's nose
  • come to an end
  • dead end
  • go off the deep end
  • hair stand on end
  • hold one's end up
  • in the end
  • light at the end of the tunnel
  • make ends meet
  • never hear the end of
  • odds and ends
  • on end
  • on the receiving end
  • play both ends against the middle
  • put an end to
  • rear end
  • short end (of the stick)
  • tail end
  • wrong end of the stick
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.