rear end

Save This Word!

See synonyms for rear end on Thesaurus.com

noun

the hindmost part of something.

Informal. the buttocks; behind.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also called tail end.

Origin of rear end

First recorded in 1865–70

Words nearby rear end

rear, Rear Adm., rear admiral, Reardon, rear echelon, rear end, rear-ender, rearguard, rear its ugly head, rear light, rearm

Other definitions for rear end (2 of 2)

rear-end

[ reer-end ]

/ ˈrɪərˈɛnd /

verb (used with object)

to drive a vehicle or other conveyance so as to strike the back end of (another vehicle): My car was rear-ended by another driver on the highway.

(of a moving vehicle or other conveyance) to strike the back end of (another vehicle or object): A freight train rear-ended the commuter train this morning.

Origin of rear-end

First recorded in 1975–80

How to use rear end in a sentence

He won’t comment on something because “I can’t get my head that far up my rear end.”
John Kennedy Went From a Democrat to the GOP's Discount Joe McCarthy|Margaret Carlson|November 23, 2021|The Daily Beast
“The caterpillars take the nitrogen and shuck it out their rear end onto the landscape,” says Andrew Tanentzap, professor of global change ecology at the University of Cambridge and one of the authors.
The surprising link between caterpillar poop and our climate|Elana Spivack|November 3, 2021|Popular-Science
Spinnerets, body parts on the spider’s rear end, spin the liquid into long threads.
Bacteria make ‘spider silk’ that’s stronger than steel|Manasee Wagh|October 27, 2021|Science News For Students
I was mesmerized the moment the Mach-E arrived, eager to run my hand along its sinewy side panels and strapping rear end.
One lean, mean green machine|Joe Phillips|October 16, 2021|Washington Blade

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
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
Kennedy: "Mankind must put an end to war — or war will put an end to mankind."
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This reporter knocked at the Wilkins home on Tuesday morning but received neither an answer nor the business end of a shotgun.
The 7-Year-Old Plane Crash Survivor’s Brutal Journey Through the Woods|James Higdon|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
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
She stood, in her young purity, at one end of the chain of years, and Mrs. Chepstow—did she really stand at the other?
Bella Donna|Robert Hichens

Other Idioms and Phrases with rear end

rear end

The back part of anything, especially a vehicle, as in There's a large dent in the rear end of the car.

The buttocks, as in I'm afraid these pants don't fit my rear end. The noun rear alone has been used in both these senses, the first since the late 1700s and the second since the mid-1900s. The addition of end occurred in the first half of the 1900s.

rear end

Origin of rear end

Words nearby rear end

Other definitions for rear end (2 of 2)

Origin of rear-end

Words related to rear end

How to use rear end in a sentence

Other Idioms and Phrases with rear end