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• rear end
  rear end

  noun

  the hindmost part of something.
• rear-end
  rear-end

  verb (used with object)

  to drive a vehicle or other conveyance so as to strike the back end of (another vehicle).

rear end

¹ American  

noun

1. the hindmost part of something.

2. Informal. the buttocks; behind.

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rear-end ² American  

[reer-end] / ˈrɪərˈɛnd /

verb (used with object)

1. 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.

2. (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.

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rear end Idioms  

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

2. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of rear end¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Origin of rear-end²

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

But other drivers have found they cannot cope with such a car - they prefer a more stable rear end.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

A hermit crab will inspect a shell with care, running antennae and claws over its contours, before delicately lowering its rear end into the aperture.

From Slate • Aug. 19, 2025

A fourth person would work the two back legs and another puppeteer would work the rear end.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2025

The brightest region within the nebula is called IC 2948, where some people see the chicken's head and others its rear end.

From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2023

My mother named me after a cow’s rear end.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Related Words

• posterior