▪ I. end, n.
(ɛnd)
Forms: 1–7 ende, (2 aend, -e, 4 eende, hende, 4, 6 eande, 4 aend, eond, 5 heynd, 7 dial. eend), 3– end. Also 3–5 ȝende, 4 ȝend, 5 ȝynde, 6 yende.
[Common. Teut.: OE. ęnde str. masc., corresponds to OS. endi (Du. einde), OHG. enti masc. (also neut.; MHG. ende masc., neut., mod.G. ende neut.), ON. ender (also ende wk. masc.; Sw. ände masc., ända fem., Da. ende), Goth. andeis:—OTeut. *andjo-z:—pre-Teutonic *anˈtjo-s, cogn. with Skr. ánta masc., neut., end, boundary, with and conj.1 formerly prep., and with OHG. andi, endi, ON. enne neut. (:—OTeut. *anþjo(m:—*ˈantjo(m) forehead.
In some dialects of ME. the e became long. The forms ȝend(e, ȝynd(e, yende may be merely phonetic developments of ēnd, or they may possibly be due to the influence of the vb. y-end (OE. ȝeendian).]
I. With reference to space.
1. a. The extremity or outermost part (in any direction) of a portion of space, or of anything extended in space; utmost limit. Obs. in general sense; retained in phrase, the end(s of the earth.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter Ps. xviii. [xix.] 4 In alle eorðan uteo de swoeᵹ heara and in endas ymbhwyrftes eorðan word heara. c 1000 Ags. Ps. xviii. [xix]. 4 Ofer ealle eorðan endas [færð] heora word. c 1305 St. Kenelm 150 in E.E.P. (1862) 51 Forto pleyen him bi þe wodes ende. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 7 W{supt} oute þe cite townes ende. a 1400–50 Alexander 173 All þe erth of Egipt fra end vnto othere Bees conquirid. 1599 ? Greene George a Greene (1861) 265 But darest thou walk to the towns end with me? 1657 J. Smith Myst. Rhet. 66 Christ shall..reign from the River to the end of the land. 1713 Pope Windsor For. 399 Earth's distant ends our glory shall behold. Mod. I would go with him to the world's end. |
b. A limit of magnitude or multitude.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter Ps. cxliv. [cxlv.] 3 Micel dryhten and herᵹendlic swiðe and micelnisse his nis ende. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. iii. 53 Many a man knowes no end of his goods. 1865 Mill in Evening Star 10 July, There was no end to the advantages. |
† c. A boundary. In
pl. territorial boundaries [? after L.
fines].
Obs.| 1388 Wyclif. Isa. x. 13 Y haue take awei the endis of peplis. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 72/2 The Ryuer of the endes of the phylisteis. 1526 Tindale Acts xvii. 26 And the endes of their in habitacion. 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. def. 5. 2 A line is the ende and terme of a superficies. |
d. the end.
fig. and
colloq. (
a) Of persons and things, a term to express the extreme in disparagement; the ‘limit’ (
cf. limit n.): the ‘last straw’.
| [1929 Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking ii. 55 ‘This,’ he said in a shaking voice, ‘is the end. From this moment I go off the stuff.’] 1938 N. Marsh Death in White Tie iii. 43 The sort of people who go there are just simply The End..the most unspeakable curiosities. 1944 ‘Brahms’ & ‘Simon’ Titania has Mother v. 41 But the damage had been done... It was The End. 1953 E. Taylor Sleeping Beauty x. 175 You simply are the end. 1959 G. Freeman Jack would be Gentleman v. 85 Donald, you really are the absolute end. |
(
b) In
U.S. slang use (
esp. jazz), a term of extreme approbation: the best, the ultimate (
ultimate n. 1). Also
attrib.| 1950 Neurotica Autumn 45 Senor this shit [sc. narcotic] is the end! 1954 Time 8 Nov. 70 A term of high approbation in the swing era was ‘out of this world’, in the bop era it was ‘gone’, and today it is ‘the greatest’ or ‘the end’. 1957 J. Kerouac On Road ii. iv. 127 That Rollo Greb is the greatest... Man, he's the end! 1960 W. Morris in D. Cerulli et al. Jazz Word 123 One of my paintings is named requiem for bird, a tribute for the end alto. 1963 Nugget Feb. 46, I was blowing some jazz in the student lounge on this end Steinway. |
† 2. a. A ‘quarter’, division, region (of the world, of a country or town).
Obs. (but
cf. East-end, West-end, where this sense blends with 3).
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. ii. i, Þas feower heafodricu sindon on feower endum þyses middangeardes. a 1225 St. Marher. (1862) 16 Ant al þe ende þæt tu ant heo habbeð in ierðet. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 377 Al þat aȝt was in Engelond he let somony in ech ende To Salesbury. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 32 Alle þe north ende was in his kepyng. c 1450 Lonelich Grail lii. 540 Ȝoure fadir sendeth Into every ende aftyr his knyhtes. |
b. An outlying part of a village or small country town, the end of an estate, or an outlying property, usually preceded by a descriptive name. (For place-names and field-names in
-end see A. H. Smith
Eng. Place-Name Elements (1956)
s.v. ende1.)
| 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt I. viii. 196 Mr Goffe, of Rabbit's End, had never had it explained to him that..land must inevitably be given up when it would not yield a profit. 1906 Bungalow Dec. 8/2 It is the typical ‘end’ so beloved of the novelist, the disreputable quarter which the parsimonious squire neglects. 1910 E. M. Forster (title) Howards End. 1925 Victoria Hist. County Bucks. III. 465/1 The soil [at Winslow] is of Oxford clay, which has been worked in a pit at Tinker's End. 1954 M. Beresford Lost Villages x. 339 Bedfordshire... The form of settlement..gives us the characteristic ‘Ends’. Here, farms are scattered. |
3. a. One of the two extremities of a line, or of the ‘length’ or greatest dimension of any object; that part of anything that includes the extremity of its length.
from end to end: from one extremity to the other; throughout the length.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 430 He þe well bloweð went þe neruwe ende of þe horne to his owune muðe. c 1340 Cursor M. 23201 (Edinb.) Þe pitte of helle pin, it es sa dep..þat end ne bes þar neuir apon. c 1394 J. Malverne Contn. Higden (Rolls) IX. App. 3 Perrexitque ad locum qui Anglice vocatur ‘Mile ende.’ c 1400 Destr. Troy 8795 Euer folowand the fell to þe fyngur endys. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxv. 75 Oberon satte at the tables ende. 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. xiv, In the eande of the other line. 1602 Return fr. Parnass. ii. vi. (Arb.) 32 Your Hobby will meete you at the lanes end. 1632 Lithgow Totall Discourse 22, I haue trod foure seuerall times from end to end of it [Italy]. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) The Air Ground-pipe, laid the whole length of the Green-house..and reaching from end to end. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 79/1 The Billberry, or Windberry, is round at the end. 1721–1800 Bailey, Cann-Hook, an iron hook made fast to the end of a rope. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 33 ¶25 Mutton-chops off the worst end. 1760 Wesley Jrnl. 30 June (1827) III. 9, I was quickly wet to my toe's end. 1863 Kingsley Water Bab. 39 The end of his own nose. 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 166 On the floor of the cage or at the ends of a rod passing through its upper bar. |
† b. The point of a spear.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 9432 He bare hym þurgh the brest with a bright end. |
c. (see
Land's end.)
d. ?
transf. In the game of Bowls: The portion of a game which is played from one ‘end’ of the green to the other (see
quot. 1876). Formerly also a definite portion of a game in Billiards and some other sports.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 263/1 Five Ends make a Game by Day light, and three by Candle light. 1747 Scheme Equip. Men of War 37 Playing an End or two at that innocent..Game, called Push Pin. 1876 H. F. Wilkinson Bowls in Encycl. Brit. IV. 181 The bowling generally takes place alternately from the two ‘ends’ of the green. A ‘void end’ is when neither side can score a cast. |
e. Archery. (
a) The place at which a mark is set up. (
b) The number of arrows shot from one end of a range.
| 1801 T. Roberts Eng. Bowman 288 End, the place where a mark is fixed. 1836 in A. E. Hargrove Archery (1845) 89 Any member who shall draw an arrow before the end has been determined by the Judges, shall forfeit his right to count for such arrow. 1879 M. & W. Thompson Archery x. 52 By the rules of the York Round three arrows to each archer constitute an end. 1887 W. Butt H. Ford's Archery 289 On July 5, 1877, he made 3 golds in one end at 100 yards. |
f. Of a sports pitch or court; also, the half occupied by a team or individual player. Phr.
to change ends: to play in the opposite direction to that in which the team or individual had previously played; so
change of ends;
to choose ends: to indicate the direction in which one prefers to play; so
choice of ends.
| 1851 W. Bolland Cricket Notes v. 87 The safest plan is to stipulate..that the disputed man shall not be put on at either end—as a doubtful bowler should never be permitted. 1865 J. Pycroft Cricketana xiii. 235 He used at Lord's to bowl from the Pavilion end in order that he might have the slope against him. 1867 G. H. Selkirk Guide to Cricket-Ground iv. 59 The finest bowler might change ends every over, and bowl continuously. 1881 Two Codes Football (ed. 3) 28 Ends shall only be changed at half-time. 1890 C. G. Heathcote in J. M. Heathcote Tennis, etc. 253 The winner of the toss should choose the best end, taking note in doing so not only of the position of the sun at the moment, but of what it will be in the course of the match. 1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise xviii. 313 The slogger smote a vigorous ball from the factory end. 1960 J. R. Witty in Fabian & Green Assoc. Football I. ii. iii. 167 Choice of ends has always been decided by a toss of the coin. 1963 R. B. Stratford Netball ix. 70 Unless the weather conditions make the choice of ends desirable, it is better [for the captain who wins the toss] to choose the centre pass. 1970 Times 22 Oct. 13/4 (Soccer) Five minutes after the change of ends came the body blow. |
g. In American and Canadian football, one stationed at the end of a line or team of players; a wing; the position occupied by such a player.
| 1892 Outing (U.S.) Dec. 50/1 Long gains at the tackles, ends, and around the ends, were common. 1899 A. H. Quinn Pennsylv. Stories 22 The ends and the backs came together as though drawn by a magnet and the pyramid toppled and fell. 1944 Greeley (Colo.) Daily Tribune 24 Sept. 2/1 The Wizards team is well spiked with verterans this year having a veteran backfield, two ends and a letterman tackle. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 29/1 Of their 10 selections, seven were offensive ends or flankers. |
h. Phr.
the end of the road (
transf. and
fig.).
| 1924 Dillon & Lauder End of Road 4 Keep right on to the end of the road. Keep right on to the end. 1954 M. Procter Hell is City iii. vi. 108 It'll be the end of the road for him. He won't care what he does. 1959 ‘A. Fraser’ High Tension x. 99 It isn't any good pretending. We've come to the end of the road. 1968 Guardian 8 Oct. 1/2 The end of the road for Mr. Dubcek's Czechoslovakia may not have been reached after all. |
4. The surface which bounds an object at either of its two extremities; the ‘head’ of a cask.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 274 b, The hopes kepeth fast the bordes of the vessell..& holdeth in y⊇ endes that they start not. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 224 Draw lines across each end of the stone. Mod. The ends of the cask were stove in. The ends of the box are of hard wood. |
5. a. A piece broken, cut off, or left; a fragment, remnant.
Cf. candle-end. Of cloth: A half-length, or half-piece. Also in
odds and ends (see
odds).
| 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (1841) 141 My lord sent to Stoke be the carter ij.c. xxiiij. lb. yren, conteyning xj. endes. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 39 Scraps or shreds or short ends of lace. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. 66 A brokers shop that hath ends of everything. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 13 Give him leave to sell all his rags, and odde-ends. 1704 in Lond. Gaz. No. 3986/4 Lost..5 yards and a half of superfine..Black, 12 yards and a half of refine Black..being both Last Ends. 1712 E. Hatton Merch. Mag. 22 An End or Half Cloth, or a Long or Whole Cloth. 1713 Swift Frenzy of J. Dennis Wks. 1755 III. i. 140 On his table were some ends of verse and of candles. 1887 Rider Haggard Jess xxxii, The bit of candle..was..burnt out, so..he produced a box full of ‘ends.’ |
b. fig. Obs. exc. in
odds and ends (
q.v.).
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. i. 290 Ere you flout old ends any further, examine your conscience. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone Prol. Nor hales he in a gull, old ends reciting, To stop gaps in his loose writing. 1607 R. Wilkinson Merch. Royall 26 Euerie Ladie..if her husband haue bribed out but an end of an office, yet she reuels and playes Rex. 1634 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. Wks. (1808) 104 To improve these short ends of time, which are stolen from his more important avocations. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 251 They call..language of a finer Dresse, Ends of Playes. |
c. A part, proportion; only with
adjs. of quantity, as in
† micel ende (
OE.) a great part;
† most end, also
most an end [? corruption of
*mosten ende,
OE. mǽstan ende], used adverbially
= ‘for the most part’, ‘almost entirely’, ‘especially’;
† none end, no portion;
a good (great) end (
dial.), a large proportion (
of).
| O.E. Chron. an. 1052, Harold..ofsloh mycelne ende þes folces. c 1340 Cursor M. (Trin.) 14478 [The Jews] souȝten him to slone And moost ende for þat resoun Þat he vp reised lazaroun. ? c 1400–40 How a Merchande, etc. 106 in E.P.P. (Hazl.) I. 201 To speke wyth none ende of my kynne. 1623 Lisle ælfric on O. & N.T. Jeremias..was oft in bands and cast into prison..and bore most an end the peoples sinnes. 1676 Hale Contempl. i. 58 The credit of the Relator, which most an end depends upon another's credit. 1739 Grobianus 122 Tipplers most an end are roaring Boys. 1869 R. B. Peacock Lonsdale Gloss. s.v., It cost me a girt end of a pound. Ibid., Most on End..used adverbially; continually, unremittingly. Mod. Derbysh., It cost me a good end of ten pounds. I have been waiting a good end of an hour. |
d. A share or portion; a part or side.
orig. U.S.| 1903 A. H. Lewis Boss xiv. 181 That's always th' Tammany end; forty per cent. 1907 in Asher & Heal Send No Money (1942) 115 After the genial and affable derelicts in the money changing end received the money..no stove has arrived. 1926 J. Black You can't Win ix. 105 Didn't him and Smiler bring it [sc. $200] up here for my end of that chippy gambling house's bankroll? 1928 Publishers' Weekly 30 June 2598 To talk to such a person about the editorial end of a publishing business means little or nothing. 1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway v. 126 Honey would have to come back to this country to tell us his end of it. 1962 B. Knox Little Drops of Blood ii. 39 How about your end of it? |
6. In various technical uses.
a. Coal-mining. The furthest part of a gallery or working.
end of coal (see
quot. 1881). Also
phr. on the end (see
quots.).
| 1865 Morning Star 7 Jan. The men are of course usually at work in the ‘ends’. 1867 W. W. Smyth Treat. Coal xii. 140 A far better proportion of round coal will be obtained by working on the end, i.e., in the direction of such cleat. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 238 This direction is sometimes called the end of the coal. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., End of coal, the direction or section at right-angles to the face; sometimes called the butt. 1892 H. W. Hughes Text-bk. Coal-min. vii. 158 If the face is parallel to the cleat, the coal is said to be ‘on the end’. |
b. Naut. cable's end, or simply
end: the last length of a cable.
rope's end: a short length of rope bound at the ends with thread, used as an instrument of punishment.
bitter end (see
bitter).
| 1663 Pepys Diary 23 June, I beat him, and then went up in to fetch my rope's end. 1801 Sir H. Parker Let. 6 Apr. in Duncan Nelson (1806) 140 They [ships] were riding with two cables end. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Rope's end, the termination of a fall, and should be pointed or whipped. Formerly much used for illegal punishment. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 145 Have plenty of end in the bows ready to make fast. |
c. a shoemaker's end: a length of thread armed or pointed with a bristle;
= wax-end.
to pack up one's ends and awls (
Sc.):
i.e. all one's effects.
| 1598 Florio, Lesina, a shooe-makers ende or awle. 1656 More Antid. Ath. ii. xi. (1712) 74 Two strings like two shoe-makers ends come from the hinder parts of the male. 1713 Swift Elegy on Partridge Wks. 1755 III. ii. 82 Ariadne kindly lends Her braided hair to make thee ends. a 1745 W. Meston Poems (1767) 98 Laden with tackle of his stall, Last, ends, and hammer, strap, and awl. 1798 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Tales Hoy Wks. 1812 IV. 389 Crispin too forgets his End and Awl. 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize I. 271 They arrived at Edinburgh, and constrained the Queen Regent..to pack up her ends and awls. |
d. Spinning and
Weaving. (
a)
card-end: a sliver or carding. (
b) A worsted yarn in a Brussels carpet.
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 978 For spinning coarse numbers..six card-ends are usually converted into one riband. |
e. end of steel (also formerly
end of the steel): the limit to which tracks have been laid during the construction of a railway; a railway terminus; so
end-of-steel town, a town at a railway terminus.
Canad.| [1884 Prince Albert Times (Sask.) 4 July 3/1 A number of leading citizens of Calgary waited on Inspector Steele..on the eve of his departure to End of Track.] 1909 A. D. Cameron New North ii. 21 Edmonton is the end of steel. Three lines converge here. 1912 H. Footner New Rivers of North 276 We came to the end of the steel, but there was no construction work going on. 1912 J. B. Bickersteth Let. 3 Nov. in Land of Open Doors (1914) x. 199 An end-of-steel town is a wicked place. 1933 Meccano Mag. Mar. 195/1 Greatly reduced the time required for the journey from the ‘end of steel’, as the railway terminus is called in Canada. 1933 Thompson & Edgar Canadian Railway Devel. 247 An engine drawing a train of ballast trucks..steamed to the end of steel. 1962 R. Slobodin Band Organiz. Kutchin 12 The railroad terminus—the ‘end of steel’—is at Waterways, Alberta. |
f. big end: see
big a. B. 2.
II. With reference to time or serial order.
7. a. The limit of duration, or close, of a period of time; the termination, conclusion, of an action, process, continuous state, or course of events; the terminal point of a series; the conclusion of a discourse, book, chapter, etc.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. x. 22 Soðlice se þurhwunað oð ende, se byð hal. c 1200 Ormin 4356 Forr seffne daȝhess brinngenn aȝȝ þe wuke till hiss ende. c 1230 Hali Meid. 17 Blisse þat cumeð..withuten ani ende. a 1300 Cursor M. 4236 Es noght his murning mai amend I wen bifor his liues ende. Ibid. 26595 If þou þis bok will se till end. 1340 Ayenb. 262 Þis boc is ycome to þe ende. a 1400–50 Alexander 880 Philip..lofes hire [Olympias] lely to his lyfes ende. 1535 Coverdale 1 Cor. xv. 24 Then the ende, whan he shal delyuer vp the kyngdome vnto God the father. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 22 Robert had heard this message unto the ende. 1709 Addison Tatler, No. 24 ¶3 This Felicity attending him to his Life's End. 1803 R. Anderson Cumbld. Ball., Calep Crosby, Frae week en to week en. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. x. 198 The passage of the Jordan was not the end, but the beginning of a long conflict. 1876 Trevelyan Macaulay I. i. 13 He worked unceasingly.. from year's end to year's end. |
b. The latter or concluding part (of a period, action, etc.).
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. xx. (1495) 47 In the ende of the worlde the deuyll shall be..moche the more feruent to woodnesse. a 1200 Moral Ode in E.E.P. 26 Ac ȝif þe ende is euel, al it is uuel. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. iii. 82 The Ewes In end of Autumne turned to the Rammes. a 1744 Broome Epic Poetry (J.), The..designs of an action are the beginning;..the difficulties that are met with..are the middle; and the unravelling and resolution of these difficulties are the end. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia 170 Kara George..towards the end of the summer of 1806, approached the eastern frontier. |
c. in
attrib. uses of phrases, as
end-account,
end-August,
end-year (also followed by a specified year-date);
end-of-December,
end-of-season,
end-of-term (also
end-of-termy adj.),
end-of-the-century,
end-of-the-year.
end-of-(the)-day, designating glassware made by combining different-coloured glass (allegedly oddments left over at the end of the day);
cf. whimsy n. 7 b.
| 1891 Literary World 20 Nov. 422/3 Our end-of-the-century civilisation. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 12 June 7/2 The end-of-December account. 1903 Ibid. 21 Aug. 9/1 The final details of the end-August settlement. 1909 Ibid. 9 Dec. 10/1 The end-of-the-year requirements are likely to be satisfied. 1911 H. Walpole Mr. Perrin iii. 42 The end-of-termy feelings. 1923 Manch. Guardian Weekly 10 Aug. 106/1 Smith Minor has been cruelly flogged by an avaricious head master who had discovered that his end-of-term rose-bowl was only electro plate instead of the solid silver which he had stipulated in his letter to the lad's parents. 1928 Daily Chron. 9 Aug. 8/6 The falling off in the average shown in latest developments, accentuated by end-account sales. 1937 Antiques Feb. 80/1 For years past, many collectors have found much to admire in what they called End of the Day glass. 1938 New Statesman 8 Jan. 39/1 The end-year issue of The Bookseller. 1947 Wyndham Lewis Let. 21 Dec. (1963) 423, I was sorry to hear of your end-of-the-year feeling of nervous exhaustion. 1948 Glass Club Bull. Mar. 5/1 ‘End of the day’ is a fanciful term given in support of the story that at the end of the working day the odds and ends..were..remelted..and..appeared as beautiful pieces of purple and white glass. 1954 Economist 11 Sept. 1/2 The show [sc. Farnborough]..is both a shop-window and an end-of-term report. 1955 Times 6 July 16/1 The effects of end-account selling. 1959 Ibid. 12 June 15/1 An end-of-season concert. 1960 Ibid. 13 Jan. 17/2 There has recently been some movement of funds from London—quite apart from the Swiss end-year transactions. 1966 Rep. Comm. Inquiry Univ. Oxf. I. 182 At end-1965 prices. 1966 Listener 23 June 914/3 But it was the end-of-term exam that really made him anxious. 1969 Canad. Antiques Collector June 24/1 ‘End of day’ novelties, blown for fun from remaining glass, are..the most interesting from a collector's point of view. 1981 P. Phillips Encycl. Glass 163/3 These multi-coloured bottles were often made from the glass left in various pots at the close of work—hence the common name ‘end-of-day’ glass in England (also ‘splashed glass’ in America). |
d. In hackneyed
phr. at the end of the day, eventually; when all's said and done.
| 1974 H. McKeating God & Future vi. 96 Eschatological language is useful because it is a convenient way of indicating..what at the end of the day we set most store by. 1976 South Notts. Echo 16 Dec. 1/4 ‘At the end of the day,’ he stated, ‘this verifies what I have been saying against the cuts in public expenditure.’ 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 213/2, I want to make a number of points to you, which we believe invalidate..the recommendations they make at the end of the day. 1982 B. Beaumont Thanks to Rugby iii. 39 But, at the end of the day, it is an amateur sport and everyone is free to put as much or as little into the game as he chooses. 1986 Independent 17 Nov. 4 At the end of the day businessmen can talk to the city in a way chief executives cannot. |
8. a. Termination of existence; destruction, abolition. (The early examples of
end of the world should perhaps be referred to 7, as
world may have been taken in its older temporal sense;
cf. however
Fr. fin du monde.)
it isn't (or wouldn't be, etc.) the end of the world, it is not a calamity, it is not a matter of great importance. Also
end-of-the-world used
attrib. or as
adj.| 832 Charter in Sweet O.E.T. 447 ðet he ðas god forðleste oð wiaralde ende. c 1340 Cursor M. 22390 (Edinb.) His dome þate him sale driue til ende. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §8 The world may have an end before he proves his Atoms could give it a beginning. a 1704 Locke (J.), There would be an end of all civil government, if the assignment of civil power were by such institution. 1907 G. B. Shaw Major Barbara iii, Nothing's going to happen to you;..it wouldnt be the end of the world if anything did. 1964 J. Creasey Guilt of Innocence xvi. 136, I know exactly what a shock you had... But it isn't the end of the world, you know. 1964 A. Wilson Late Call ii. 78 ‘I don't see the numbers very clearly...’ ‘Well, it isn't the end of the world if you don't.’ |
| 1916 D. H. Lawrence Let. 7 Nov. (1932) 375 The book frightens me: it is so end-of-the-world. a 1963 L. MacNeice Astrol. (1964) ix. 286 A recent ‘end-of-the-world’ forecast. |
b. The death (of a person); a mode or manner of death.
| c 1305 Edmund Conf. 590 in South-Eng. Leg. (1887) 448 Þe more is bodi ipined was: þe ner he was þen ende. c 1340 Cursor M. 3905 (Trin.) Rachel bare..beniamyn Þat was þe cause of hir ende. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 426 Bed me bilyue my bale stour, & bryng me on ende. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1438 Ffele folke forfaren with a ffeble ende. a 1440 Sir Eglam. 756 The dragon hath tan hys ȝynde. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 650 This ende had the valiant Lorde, Richard Plantagenet Duke of Yorke. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 44 Then if he loose he makes a Swan-like end, Fading in musique. 1667 Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 338 Great talk of the good end that my Lord Treasurer made. 1732 Pope Epit. Gay, Unblam'd through life; lamented in thy end. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 38 Call then a priest and fit him for his end. 1879 Froude Cæsar vi. 52 To be murdered was the usual end of exceptionally distinguished Romans. |
† c. In phrase
to be the end of (
cf. to be the death of). Now used, somewhat trivially, in the sense ‘to be the downfall of, to put an end to (ambition, promotion, etc.)’.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. i. 15 Lest..the..King of Kings award Either of you to be the others end. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 130 This Apoplexie will (certaine) be his end. 1934 G. B. Shaw On Rocks i. 200 He was just ripe for the Cabinet when his wife..made money by journalism. That was the end of him. 1936 J. B. Priestley They walk in City iv. 76 She and the bow-legged chap would be pushing a pram up the road..and that..would be the end of them. |
9. Ultimate state or condition. Chiefly in Bible phrases, in which, however,
end is often misinterpreted in sense 8 b.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xxxviii. [xxxix.] 5 Cuð me doa dryhten ende minne. 1611 Bible Ps. xxxvii. 37 Marke the perfect man, and behold the vpright: for the end of that man is peace. |
10. latter († last) end: variously used in senses 7 b, 8 b, 9. Also
Sc. hinder end.
| 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. i. 13 Wel shal be in the laste endys. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 158 The latter ende of this moneth of July..the Legate..tooke his leave of the king. 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. v. 30 A good Trauailer is something at the latter end of a dinner. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 193 The middle or latter end of this month. 1670 Cotton Espernon i. ii. 57 Towards the Dukes latter end, I read this History to him. |
† 11. A termination of doubt or debate; a resolution, device, expedient; an agreement, settlement.
Obs.| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 169 To London vorte wende, To nyme þer ys conseyl, wuch were best ȝende. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 168 Wel sche saugh ther nas non other ende. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 66 Unto the time his said Kyng had made such End, with him, his Adherents, and Fautours, as he desired. 1489 Plumpton Corr. 82 The dayes men cannot agre us, so Mr. Mydleton to make the end. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 27 §100 Parties, to whome any such offence shall hap to be committed, shall in nowise take any ende or agreement with the offenders. |
† 12. The completion of an action; the accomplishment of a purpose: chiefly in phrases,
to have,
make,
take,
bring to,
be at (an) end. Also, the acme, utmost reach.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 10127 Prophecies com al to end. Ibid. 25862 Þat þou mai noght do to end. Ibid. 27783 For drede þat he may noght mak end. c 1340 Ibid. 8580 Al þat his fader be-gynne muȝt salamon til hende hit broȝt. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 660 Feill anoyis thoill ȝhe sall, Or that ȝour purposs ende haf tane. c 1440 Boetus, Laud MS. 559. 10 Withouten hym may hit nought To an eande our purpose be brought. c 1590 Marlowe Massac. Paris i. ii. 142 To bring the will of our desires to end. 1632 Massinger. Maid of Hon. i. i, To eat and sleep supinely is the end Of human blessings. 1679 Burnet Hist. Ref. Ep. Ded. 3 To have been at the end of their designs. |
13. a. Event, issue, result.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1774 Lucrece, What ende that I make, it shal be so! c 1400 Apol. Loll. 28 Onli in name, & as to ȝend & effect is nowȝt. 1483 Cath. Angl. 114 An Ende, exitus. 1559 Myrr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk xix, But note the ende. 1581 Savile Tacitus' Hist. iii. xix. (1591) 125 The ende went on his side. 1633 Heywood Eng. Trav. iv. Wks. 1874 IV. 73 The end still crownes the deede. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 160 It is the end that crownes the worke. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion i. vi. 50 The end shall crown us: The Gods are just. |
† b. to have its end(s) upon: to have influence upon.
Obs.| 1638 Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. ii. §49. 71 The Authority of one holy man, which has apparently no ends upon me. 1736 Butler Anal. viii. 396 Religion considered as a probation has had its end upon all persons, to whom, etc. |
14. a. An intended result of an action; an aim, purpose. (
Cf. L.
finis.)
to accomplish,
answer,
fulfil,
gain,
† make,
serve one's end(s: see those verbs.
| c 1305 Edmund Conf. in E.E.P. (1862) 72 Hit schal ȝut likie wel bi þan ȝ e wite þan ende. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 30 The Sadlers next end is to make a good saddle. a 1628 Preston New Covt. (1634) 232 A right end never hath a crooked rule leading to it. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 184 They study..not to make their ends on any mans weaknesse. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. x. 174 This answered my end. 1735 Berkeley Free-think. in Math. §6 Wks. 1871 III. 304, I have no end to serve but truth. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. I. iii. 260 She had fully gained her end. 1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds vii. 88 I am rather afraid of our people mistaking the means for the end. 1857 D. Jerrold St. Giles x. 102 [He] was delighted..that the ends of justice would be satisfied. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 323 They may fairly use a little violence in order to accomplish their end. |
b. In phrases,
for or to this (that, what, which) end,
to no end. Also in conjunctional phrase,
to the end (that); formerly also,
† to the end to (with
inf.).
Now somewhat archaic or rhetorical; the ordinary phrase is
in order (
that or
to).
| 138. Wyclif. Sel. Wks. III. 354 Han power of him to þise ende. c 1400 Mandeville v. 51 Ȝee schulle knowe and preve, to the ende that ȝee schulle not ben disceyved. 1474 Caxton Chesse iv. ii. (1860) K iiij b, The faders had dyuerse wyues..to thende whan one was [with] childe, they myght take another. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis Secr. (1568) 64 a, To thende they may al equally receive of the honnye. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. ii. §9 (1873) 17 To the end to peruse the Greek authors. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 28 To which end, King Abbas, sends his Ambassadour to Constantinople. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 70, I am come forth to withstand them, and to that end will back the Lions. 1692 Bp. of Ely Answ. Touchstone 187 It is to no end to look what St. Austin saith. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 305 ¶12 To the End that they may be perfect also in this Practice. 1728 Sheridan Persius iii. (1739) 47 Study..for what end ye were created. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, V. ii. 244 For this end he summoned Luther to appear at Rome. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 170 For these ends, and for these ends alone, he wished to obtain arbitrary power. |
c. Sc. end's errand: the special design.
| 1821 Galt Sir A. Wylie II. 158 Did they say nothing of the end's errand they had come upon? |
15. A final cause; the object for which a thing exists; the purpose for which it is designed or instituted.
| 1534 Whittinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 4 Suche offyces..pertayne to the ende of felycitie. 1587 Golding De Mornay xvi. 261 And as man is the end of the World, so is God the end of Man. 1648 Shorter Catech., Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. vii. 147 The end of Society is the common welfare and good of the people associated. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. I. xxiv. 702 I have considered the happiness of the people as the end of government. 1869 Ruskin Q. of Air §60 The flower is the end or proper object of the seed. a 1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. I. iv. ii 375 The highest end of Church union..is quiet and unanimity. |
III. Idiomatic phrases.
16. With various prepositions forming
advb. phrases.
a. at the end (
ME. at þen end,
atten ende),
† at end: at last.
† b. for (an) end: in conclusion, finally, ‘to cut the matter short’.
c. in the end,
† in end: ultimately, in the long run.
† d. to an end: consecutively, through the whole period specified.
| a. c 1300 Beket 81 Attan ende bi cas; Tho heo com aȝe thulke hous ther this Gilbert was. a 1300 Cursor M. 14879 (Gött.) Þai at end him did on rod. 1340 Ayenb. 128 Atenende þe zeneȝere..is ase þe ilke þet slepþ amide þe ze. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 407 Of þyng þat is him dere Ich man preise at ende. Ibid. 3287 Þai hadde woundes ille At þe nende. 1632 Lithgow Totall Disc. 127 In end..the slaves..runne the Galley a shoare. 1872 Browning Hervé Riel, My friend, I must speak out at the end, Though I find the speaking hard. |
| b. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 221 For an end therefore I tel you, etc. 1576 Flemming Panoplie Ep. 10 For ende, he counselleth Curio to take charge of the common wealth. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 260 For an end, we must etc. |
| c. c 825 Vesp. Psalter ix. 19 Nales in ende oferȝeotulnis bið ðearfena. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 165 But in the end the losse fell to the Englishmen. 1828–40 Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 25 His [Edward I's] power and influence would in the end induce the different parties to appeal to him. 1885 Manch. Exam. 13 July 5/5 The match in the end was very narrowly won by Harrow. |
| d. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abuses (1877) 50 Never content with one colour or fashion two dayes to an ende. 1657 Serjeant Schism Dispach't 478 Would any government..remain on foot three years to an end, if, etc. 1717 J. Fox Wanderer 160 Octavius..told him he should not live another Hour to an End. |
17. on end (see also
an-end):
† a. at last;
b. consecutively, without intermission; also
right or straight on end: (
a) consecutively, uninterruptedly; (
b) immediately;
† c. on (one's) way, forward, along; (whence
to come on end, to come forward; (
ME.)
to set spell or tale on end, to begin a discourse);
d. in an upright position, resting on (its) end.
| a. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 25 Al swa he dođ swa þe swica þe bi-swikeđ hine seolfe on-ende. c 1320 Cast. Love 1064 Þat foreward on ende wel was i-holde. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 186, I drede on ende quat schulde byfalle. |
| b. 1634 Rutherford Lett. No. 32 (1862) I. 111 And was brought, thrice on end, in remembrance of you in my prayer to God. [1778 Strait an end: see straight adv. 2 c.] 1836 in Byron's Wks. (1846) 552/1 The ministerial prints raved for two months on end. 1837 T. Hook Jack Brag i. 16 The fox going away right on-end across a heavy country. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 574 Right on end, in a continuous line; as the masts should be. 1882 Besant All Sorts vii, Working sixteen hours on end at two⁓pence an hour. 1883 S. Baring-Gould John Herring I. xi. 154, I be going to die right on end, I be. |
| c. c 1340 Cursor M. (Trin.) 1295 Seeth set tale on ende [Cott. spell o-nend] And tolde whi he was sende. 1621 Sanderson Serm. I. 188 These would be soundly spurred up, and whipped on end. 1630 Ibid. II. 266 Others will not come on end chearfully. |
| d. a 1300 Cursor M. 25049 Þe cros..quen it es sett on end vp euen, It takens pes tuix erth and heuen. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Descr. Germany vi. (1622) 269 The Sueuians..haue their hair standing on end. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 86 Katerfelto, with his hair on end At his own wonders. 1836 Random Recoll. Ho. Lords xvi. 383 His dark hair..stands on end on the fore part of his head. 1839 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 143 A great hotel in Paris is a street set on end. |
18. without end (
ME. buten ende): endlessly, for ever; also in adjectival sense, endless.
world without end: used as
transl. late L.
in secula seculorum, ‘for ever and ever’; also
attrib.| a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xxi. 44 Þæt micle leoht..is..Ece butan ende. c 1200 Ormin 409 Rihhtwise menn..shulenn habbenn..A butenn ende blisse inoh. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2417 He ȝaf to blauncheflour Wales wiþ outen end Bidene. 138. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 24 Helle wiþ-outen hende. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 326 The vyrgyn mary..rayneth with cryste without enden. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Gloria Patri, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be: world without end. 1577 St. Aug. Manual 23 Pleasaunt tunes..are song to thy glory..without all end. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 799 A time me thinkes too short, To make a world-without-end bargaine in. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 67 Torture without end Still urges. |
19. † a. end for end: (
Naut., of a cable) paid out to the full length (
obs.).
b. to shift,
turn end for end: to put each end of (a thing) where the other was; chiefly
Naut., to reverse (a rope), to upset (a boat).
to go end for end: (of a boat) to be upset. Also in same sense,
end over end.
c. end to end: with the ends in contact, lengthwise.
| a. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 30 End for end is when the Cable runneth cleere out of the Hawse, or any Rope out of his shiuer. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Filer le cable bout par bout, to veer away the cable to the end, to veer out the cable end-for-end. |
| b. a 1734 North Exam. ii. v. §2 (1740) 316 We must turn our Style End for End. 1758 in Phil. Trans. LVIII. 284 The axis of the telescope was turned end for end; that is, the telescope..was turned upside down. 1804 A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. I. 224 A heavy sea striking the afterpart, it [the boat] went end for end over. 1805 W. Hunter in Naval Chron. XIII. 23 It would turn the Cutter end-over-end. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To shift a rope end for end, as in a tackle, the fall is made the standing part, and the standing part becomes the fall. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 201 He turns commonplaces end for end. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket-bk. §6 (ed. 2) 219 The boat will be thrown..end over end. |
| c. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. §1. 228, 39000 waves of red light placed end to end would make up an inch. |
20. a. end on: (
a) placed so as to present the end directly towards the eye, or towards any object; opposed to
broadside on. Also
attrib. Chiefly
Naut. Also
transf., applied to an educational course in which students spend six months at college and six months in industrial work alternately.
| 1832 Marryat N. Forster xlvii, She..being then nearly end on. 1834 M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxxiv. (1849) 373 A single pole end-on is sufficient. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xli, From the end-on view we had of her, we could not count her ports. 1866 Ballantyne Shifting Winds iv. (1881) 31 The lifeboat met the next breaker end-on. 1880 Mac Cormac Antisept. Surg. 229 The accident was caused by a scaffold plank of wood..falling end-on upon the man's head. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 366/1 Several ships have been built for the ‘end-on attack’. 1894 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 Oct. 2/1 Ships built mainly for end-on fire. 1898 Kipling in Morn. Post 10 Nov. 5/1, I meant my shot for an end-on shot. 1908 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 256/1 The greatest care should be taken on this road, else an end-on collision is possible. 1910 Installation News IV. 59/1 In a Tungsten lamp only 50% of the light is directed below the horizontal and the end-on candle power. 1959 P. F. R. Venables Sandwich Courses vi. 101 If half [the students] are away, and half at the firm..training and production [are] facilitated by this Cox and Box arrangement of end-on courses, i.e. two equivalent groups within the year. |
(
b) ‘Working a seam of coal, &c., at right angles to the cleat, or natural planes of cleavage’ (Gresley, 1883).
b. end up: with the end uppermost. Esp. in
phr. all ends up: completely, utterly.
| 1921 A. W. Myers Twenty Yrs. Lawn Tennis 19 Barrett beat him ‘all ends up’ in an early round. 1932 Times Educ. Suppl. 10 Dec. 1/3 Larwood bowled him all ends up. 1954 P. Frankau Wreath for Enemy iii. iv. 203 In two months' time you'll be cursing me all ends up. |
21. no end: (
colloq.) a vast quantity or number (
of). Also (
mod. slang) as
adv.,
= ‘immensely’, ‘to any extent’; and (with
of) qualifying a predicate.
Cf. 1 b.
| 1623 Bingham Xenophon 143 You..made no end of promises. 1856 Reade Never too late x, Box at the opera costs no end. 1859 Farrar Eric 55 You are no end cleverer and stronger. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xxvii. 321 What comfort have I in a big house, and no end of gardens? 1871 F. C. Burnand More Happy Thoughts (ed. 2) xix. 143 He ‘makes no end of stuff’, or ‘loses no end of stuff’..on the Derby. 1872 E. Peacock Mabel Heron I. i. 9 You will have no end of trouble. 1883 Besant All in Garden Fair viii, Keats was no end of a fellow. 1909 R. E. Knowles Attic Guest 54 You'll have no end of fun with him. 1912 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 769/1 ‘I really must show this to Champneys,’ thought Michael; ‘it will please him no end.’ 1955 Essays & Studies VIII. 5 A few clean strokes of Occam's razor would have helped Mr. Jackson no end. 1958 H. Babcock I don't want to shoot an Elephant 8, I often walk fifteen miles a day while hunting... This puzzles my wife no end. 1970 New Yorker 3 Oct. 90/2 Thomas had been impressed no end by the sight of Klüver..fixing an art-and-technology malfunction with a pair of pliers. |
22. With verbs. (See also 12–14.)
a. to be at an end: (of resources, etc.) to be exhausted; (of periods of time) to be completed; (of an action or state) to terminate. In corresponding senses,
to bring,
come to an end.
b. to be at the end of (one's resources, etc.): to have no more to spend;
to be at one's wits' end: to be utterly at a loss, to be quite perplexed.
c. to put an end to,
† to set end of: to terminate, put a stop to, abolish.
d. to have, take an end: to be terminated, concluded.
e. to make an end: to conclude, finish (
absol.); also
const. of,
with.
f. to keep one's end up (also
to keep or hold up one's end): to sustain one's part or bear one's share fully in an undertaking or performance.
| a. c 1340 Cursor M. 22263 (Edinb.) His rigning es brote til ende. 14.. in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 155 Then schulde oure trobul be at a nende. c 1590 Marlowe Dido v. i. 1409 Our travels are at end. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 430 Speake for your selues, my wit is at an end. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 186 A Gard'ner's work is never at an end. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 284 ¶2 Their affairs will be at an end. 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxvii. 325 Will these years and years of misery come to an end?—shall we be free? 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 49 This part of the festival was nearly at an end. 1877 Morley Carlyle, Crit. Misc. Ser. i. (1878) 198 Imposture must come to an end. |
| b. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. iii. i. (Arb.) 140 They were at theyr wyttes endes whither to turne them. 1655 W. F. Meteors iii. 68 It would make men..to be at their Wits End if they were not accustomed to such Tumultuous Tempests. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 33 He is at an end of all his cash. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 280, I am..at my wits' end. |
| c. a 1300 Cursor M. 25870 Þar has þi schrift sett end o pyne. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §22 Put a quick end to this treaty. 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 471 The Day of Judgment..shall..put an End to all their Mischiefs for ever. 1792 Anecd. W. Pitt. III. xlii. 150 If an end is not put to this war there is an end to this country. |
| d. c 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, ii. iv. 1137 My sorrows will have end. 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. i. (1628) 5 This so great a worke now ceased and tooke an end. |
| e. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. ii. ii. §1 Biddende þæt hie..þæs ᵹewinnes sumne ende ᵹedyden. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 241 To make an end, heere was sometime a religious College. 1611 Bible Ezra x. 17 And they made an ende, with all the men that had taken strange wiues. Mod. The government has resolved to make an end of the insurgents. |
| f. 1867 Baily's Monthly Mag. Aug. 291 Mr. Appleby kept up his end very seasonably. 1878 Mrs. Stowe Poganuc People vi. 63 Nobody can say she hain't been a good yoke-fellow; she's kept up her end. 1887 Tourgée Button's Inn 131 She'd be worn out..trying to keep up her end [of the work]. 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker i. 21 Do you think..that a man who can paint a thousand-dollar picture has not grit enough to keep his end up in the stock market? 1899 Westm. Gaz. 24 Nov. 5/1 Colonel Baden-Powell and his gallant garrison will have to keep their end up unassisted. a 1910 ‘O. Henry’ Rolling Stones (1916) 90 The Diamond-Cross'll hold its end up with a man who'll look after its interests. 1926 P. C. Standing Anglo-Australian Cricket xxiii. 103 Ranjitsinhji, who scored 42 and not out 93 and was still ‘keeping up his end’ when time was called. 1928 Observer 18 Mar. 15/3 Not a single woman who appears..in this play is able to keep her end up after the cosmic announcer informs the inhabitants of the world that the world is about to end. 1970 E. McGirr Death pays Wages v. 99 Piron had a certain enthusiasm for the Great Apes and was able to hold his end up, thanks to his good memory. |
23. Elliptically.
and there (so) an end:
= ‘this is, shall be, an end.’
Obs. or
arch.| [1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. xv. 24 Aftirward an ende, whanne, etc.] 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. iii. 65 What I will, I will, and there an end. 1608 S. Collins Serm. 51 Which I will speak a word or twain unto, and so an end. 1615 J. Day Festivals 340 As for his Carkasse, a Coffin shall cover it, and there an ende of our great Purchaser. |
24. Proverbial phrases:
to begin at the wrong end.
† not to care which end goes forward: to be negligent.
† to get by the end: to get command of, so as to have ready for use.
to get the better end of: to get the advantage of.
to have the better, or worse, end of the staff, ‘to get the best,
or worst, of it’.
to have at one's fingers' or tongue's end: to know by heart, be able to quote with readiness.
† at the hinder end of the bargain: when accounts are settled,
fig. to be at an idle end, to be unoccupied; (to live)
at a loose end, with no fixed occupation.
† to live at stave's end, ? to be unsociable, keep every one at a distance.
to make both, two ends, the two ends of the year, meet: to live within one's income [
cf. Fr. joindre les deux bouts, les deux bouts de l'an].
to come to the end of one's tether: see
tether n. 4;
to go (in) off the deep end, etc.: see
deep a. 1 d.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 29 Men of þat side schal haue the worse ende. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 34, I liue here at staues end. 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (1884) 3 Thai that have the wors end of the staf shal be sure to be wrung to the wors. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 81 Thou hast it..at the fingers ends, as they say. 1608 Withals Dict. 86 Negligently, as caring not what ende goes forward. 1638 Sanderson Serm. II. 97 We have rather cheated the devil, than he us; and have gotten the better end of him. 1662 Fuller Worthies, Cumberl. (D.), Worldly wealth he cared not for, desiring onely to make both ends meet. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 55 Getting a scripture-word by the end. 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Ends..Tis good to make both ends meet. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 124 The devil will have you at the hinder end of the bargain. 1736 Bailey, To have the better end of the Staff. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 178 Your Lordship has got a Word by the End, that you seem mighty fond of. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. x, He made shift to make the two ends of the year meet. 1865 Pall Mall G. 22 Apr. 1/1 And living completely at a loose end. 1876 R. Broughton Joan ii. iv, By five-and-thirty the best of us has pretty well come to the end of her tether. Ibid., Anthony struggling to make two ends meet! 1878 Huxley Physiogr. Pref. 6 Most of the elementary works I have seen begin at the wrong end. 1882 T. Mozley Remin. Oriel College (ed. 2) 183 He might sometimes seem to be at an idle end. 1884 Illust. Lond. News 11 Oct. 338/3 She..had Shakespeare and Milton at her tongue's end. 1884 Graphic 23 Aug. 198/2 Her mother has to contrive to make both ends meet. |
IV. 25. Comb., chiefly
attrib. with sense ‘placed at the end’, ‘coming at the end’, or ‘last used’; as
end-body,
end-brush,
end-bud,
end-handkerchief,
end-loop,
end-man,
end-parlour,
end-process,
end-result,
end-rhyme,
end-shoot,
end-situation,
end-spurt,
end-wall,
end-wheel; also
end-around, (
a)
N. Amer. Football, an offensive running play in which an end (sense 3 g) carries the ball behind his own team's line and round the opposite end;
freq. attrib.; (
b)
Computing, used
attrib. to designate an operation of a cyclic nature in which a digit is transferred from one end of a register to the other;
end-artery Anat. [
ad. G.
endarterie (J. Cohnheim
Untersuchungen ueber d. embolischen Processe (1872) i. 18),
f. end n. +
artery], an artery which supplies almost all the blood to a part of the body and does not anastomose with itself or with other arteries;
end-board, (
a) (see
quot.); (
b) a
board (sense 4) of a book;
end-bulb (see
quot.);
end-fast a., fixed on end, standing upright;
end-fire array, a radio antenna array in which the direction of reception of electromagnetic waves is in line with the elements of the array; so
end-fire radiation, etc.;
end game Chess (see
quot.); also
attrib. and
Bridge;
end-gate U.S. = tail-board 1; also
attrib. and
fig.;
end-gatherer, a collector of refuse wool;
end-grain (
attrib.), (of wood) placed with the end of the grain turned outwards;
† end-hand, the hand nearest to the end of anything;
end-hole (see
quot. 1796);
end-hooping, the hoop that binds the end of a vessel;
end-iron, a movable plate in a kitchen range which serves to enlarge or contract the grate;
† end-land, ? a frontier region;
end-leaf, a (usually blank) leaf inserted at one or other end of a bound book;
end-making, conclusion, settlement;
end moraine = terminal moraine (
terminal a. 3);
end-organ (see
quot.);
end-paper usu. in
pl., the blank leaves placed at the beginning and end of a book;
end-piece (see
quot.); a piece forming the end of a box, etc.; in watchmaking, the support for the end of a pivot;
end-plate, the extreme fibres of a muscle or nerve;
end-play Bridge, any of various methods of play which (usually at about the eleventh trick) force an opponent into making a lead which will cost him a trick; hence as
v. trans.;
end-position Philol., the position at the end of a clause or phrase;
end-rib (see
quot.);
end run N. Amer., (
a) in American football, an attempt by the ball-carrier to run round his own end (sense 3 g) and towards the goal; (
b)
fig., an evasive tactic,
esp. in war or politics; a ploy which allows one to advance by bypassing the opposition;
end-scraper Archæol. = grattoir;
end-shake, a freedom of motion in a spindle at its end;
† end-sith [
OE. s{iacu}ð fate], death-fate;
end-speech, a speech tacked on at the end, an epilogue;
end standard Metrology, a standard of length in the form of a metal bar or block whose end faces are the standard distance apart under specified conditions;
cf. line standard a.;
end-stone, one of the plates of a watch-jewel supporting a pivot;
end-stopping, (of blank verse) a division of the lines, such that they end with a pause or stop; so
end-stopped ppl. a.;
end table U.S., a table suitable for placing at the end of a couch or beside another piece of furniture;
end-time, the end of a period of time;
spec. the end of the world;
end-use, the final specific use to which a product is put; so
end-user;
end-wool, refuse wool;
end zone N. Amer., (
a) in football (see
quots. 1916 and 1935); (
b) in ice hockey, either of two sections of the rink which extend to the goal line from the neutral zone.
| 1934 Birmingham (Ala.) News 4 Nov. 15/1 The famous *end-around play accounted for Alabama's initial touchdown. 1946 Annals Computation Lab. Harvard Univ. I. 15 All storage counters are equipped with..end around carry. 1954 G. H. Allen Encycl. Football Drills v. 35 (heading) How to drill for end around. 1958 J. Oliver Offensive Football v. 48 A very fine counter play in all series is the end-around play. 1975 IEEE Trans. Computers XXIV. 953/1 A set of shift registers..connected for end-around shifting. 1983 N.Y. Times 31 Jan. a1/2 The Redskins gained 44 yards on an end-around play and scored the winning touchdown on a 43-yard run. |
| 1880 Glasgow Med. Jrnl. Dec. 490 Although not anatomically, the superior mesenteric is functionally an ‘*end artery’. 1883 J. Coats Man. Path. 35 There are parts of the body in which the arteries are distributed to a perfectly definite piece of tissue, and have no anastomotic connections. In the case of such arteries, to which Cohnheim gives the name of End Arteries, the results of obstruction are very serious. 1964 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 14) i. 11 The retinal arteries are end-arteries and have no anastomoses at the ora serrata. |
| c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 70 What are the ‘*end boards’? They are boards which cover and form the ends of the meetings. 1936 Burlington Mag. May 213/1 Adhering to the inside of the end-boards of a great ninth-century book of the Gospels. |
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 861/2 Nerve fibres at their peripheral extremities terminate in connection with peculiar structures, named *end-bodies, terminal bodies. Ibid., The peripheral end-bodies in the skin. 1903 Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 3), End-body, that one of the two elements of the serum of an immunized animal which serves actually to kill the bacteria. The other element, the Between-body or Immune-body, simply fastens the end-body to the bacteria. The end-body is also called the complement and addiment. |
| 1710 London & Wise Compl. Gardener (1719) 152 The same course of pinching off *End-Buds is very profitable in Summer also. 1900 J. S. Kingsley Text Bk. Vert. Zool. 68 Allied to the sense organs of the lateral line are structures known as end buds. |
| 1879 Calderwood Mind & Br. iii. 42 This terminal expansion [of a nerve] is known as an *end-bulb, or touch organ. |
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 282 Neir by the boundis of Brigantia thair stude Ane *end fast stane. |
| 1936 R. S. Glasgow Princ. Radio Engin. xiv. 458 If..there is a progressive phase difference between the currents of the adjacent antennas, the radiation will be concentrated along the axis of the array instead of at right angles to it. This type of structure is known as an *end-fire array. 1939 Amat. Radio Handbk. (Radio Soc. Gt. Brit.) x. 147 Aerials do not usually radiate uniformly in all directions... The effect of the ground is generally disadvantageous..but it does help in allowing end-on or ‘end-fire’ radiation from a horizontal wire. 1943 Gloss. Terms Telecomm. (B.S.I.) 66 End-fire array, a type of directive aerial-array the principal direction of radiation of which is in the direction of the array line. 1949 Electronic Engin. XXI. 346 A wealth of information on broadside and end fire arrays. |
| 1884 Horwitz in Academy 12 Apr. 256/1 The real *end game consists of a position where the method can be analytically demonstrated by which the slightly superior force can win. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 15 Feb. 4/1 A fine end-game player. 1899 Ibid. 1 June 6/3 Skill in end-game play. 1947 T. Reese Reese on Play iv. 143 (heading) End game. 1952 I. Macleod Bridge xv. 190 Bridge writing tends to concentrate on the end game. 1964 V. Nabokov Defence viii. 121 We'll simply take the endgame position at the point it was interrupted today. |
| 1873 Newton Kansan 15 May 2/2 An iron *end gate rod was thrust easily into the excavation. 1905 Emporia (Kan.) Gaz. 3 Mar., Henry kept right on lamming the end-gate of the band wagon of reform with a poker. 1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights vi. 165 Two boys..tied to the feed-rack by Allens's hired man and spanked with the end-gate of his wagon. |
| 1764 Burn Poor Laws 53 All *end-gatherers offending against an act of the 13 Geo. c. 23..shall be deemed incorrigible rogues. |
| 1882 Worc. Exhib. Cat. iii. 41 The flooring is laid in *end-grain sections of pine. 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 88/2 End-grain wood pavements, etc. |
| 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 17 You must dip your Handle-hand, and mount your *end-hand a little. |
| 1753 Scots Mag. Feb. 100/2 The *end-handkerchiefs would sell as well as the other ten. |
| 1796 C. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 296 (Cribbage) It is of Advantage to the last Player to keep as close Cards as possible, in Hopes of coming in for Fifteen, a Sequence, or Pair, besides the *End Hole, or Thirty-one. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 576/1 (Cribbage) The go, end hole, or last card is scored by the player who approaches most nearly to thirty-one. |
| 1905 F. H. Collins Author & Printer 108/1 *Endleaves, the blank fly-leaves at the beginning and end of a book. Ibid., End papers, see end leaves. 1954 N. R. Ker Pastedowns in Oxf. Bindings p. vii, This method of strengthening the binding has been used since the Middle Ages, the only difference being that the endleaves then consisted of parchment instead of paper. |
| 1712 J. James Gardening 90 Fixing the two *End Loops upon the Stakes A and C. |
| a 1796 Burns (Jam.), She sprung an *end-hooping. |
| c 1200 Ormin 17916 Nohht ferr þær inn an *endeland Þatt wass Ennon ȝehatenn. |
| c 1490 Plumpton Corr. 82 Beseching your sayd mastership..to be at the *end-making. |
| 1903 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 4) II. Index 1446/2 Terminal moraines (*end-moraines). 1954 W. D. Thornbury Princ. Geomorphol. xv. 374 Three types of glacial deposits—end moraine, lateral moraine, and ground moraine—may be distinguished, depending upon whether deposition took place at the end of, at the side of, or beneath an ice stream. 1960 B. W. Sparks Geomorphol. xiii. 291 The edges of former ice sheets are often marked by terminal or end moraines, which are ridges of glacial material not usually exceeding 150–200 feet in height in lowlands. |
| 1878 Bell Gegenbauer's Comp. Anat. 42 Sensory organs are the *end-organs of the sensitive nerves. |
| 1818 H. Parry Art Bk.-binding 31 Common marble paper pasted between the first and second leaf of the *end-papers. 1846 Dodd Brit. Manuf. VI. 94 The end-papers are..glued to the boards. 1885 W. J. E. Crane Bookbinding vii. 59 The ‘end papers’ are those blank leaves which are found at the beginning and end of every bound book. 1901 Athenæum 4 May, The end-papers were a little spotted, but the general condition was splendid. 1960 Times 6 Oct. 17/4 There are endpaper maps. |
| 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 228 There is one little *end-parlour, an after-thought of the original builder. |
| 1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 118/1 The *end-pieces, when real diamonds are used, are what are called rose-diamonds, and are procured from Holland, where they are cut. 1878 W. W. Abney Treat. Photogr. xxx. 216 A movable end-piece through which the plate passes into the holder. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Wall-plates, the two-side pieces of a timber frame in a shaft... The other two pieces are the end-pieces. |
| 1878 Foster Phys. iii. i. 393 Between the lingual fibres and the *end-plates of the glossal muscular fibres. 1884 Syd. Soc. Lex., End-plate, motorial, the branched, expanded, termination of a nerve fibre or one of its branches on a muscular fibre. |
| 1931 Bridge Mag. VI. 213/1 All *end plays are divided into three large groups; negative, positive and neutral. 1936 E. H. Downes (title) Squeezes coups and end plays. Ibid. 51 The Declarer..knows that the opponent being End-Played will be forced to make a return lead in a suit in which the Declarer holds a tenace position. 1950 G. S. Coffin (title) Endplays. Ibid. p. ix, Although an endplay situation usually occurs when all four hands are played down to a few cards, endplays sometimes embrace so many cards that a player is ‘endplayed’ even on the opening lead! |
| 1928 H. Poutsma Gram. Late Mod. Eng. (ed. 2) viii. 442 When they [sc. adverbial adjuncts] have to be thrown into prominence, they not infrequently have front-position or *end-position. 1962 S. Stubelius in F. Behre Contrib. Eng. Syntax 198 End-position adverbials. |
| a 1942 B. Malinowski Sci. Theory Culture (1944) x. 92 The supply of physical material, the conditions in which the digestive processes can be carried out and the sanitary arrangements of the *end-processes. 1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Mar. 156/5 The end-process of a long evolution. |
| 1912 J. S. Huxley Individual in Animal Kingdom ii. 52 These substances—its food—may be varied..and the *end-result, its protoplasm, yet be the same. 1958 Spectator 1 Aug. 157/1 Mr. Gaitskell can claim to have been surprisingly successful; but the end-result is unappetising. 1966 Lancet 31 Dec. 1458/1 The same end-result can be achieved by the subsequent use of a promoting agent. |
| 1855 H. Clarke New Dict. Eng. Lang. 332/1 *End-rhyme, chiming at the end of each verse. 1907 Cambr. Hist. Eng. Lit. I. 62 The consistent use of end-rime and alliteration in one and the same poem. 1927 E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse 296 End-rhyme was called runhending. 1953 G. Turville-Petre Orig. Icelandic Lit. i. 41 Egill was before his time in using end-rime regularly. |
| 1852 Seidel Organ 37 Between the upper and under-board there are six boards, viz. two..called *end-ribs. |
| 1902 Record-Herald (Chicago) 28 Sept. iii. 1/4 Perkins made a fifteen-yard *end run. 1920 Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser 7 Mar. 6/3 Stubbs follows with an end run for 25 yards. 1952 W. S. Churchill Second World War V. xxiv. 378, I had..always been a partisan of the ‘end run’, as the Americans call it, or ‘cat-claw’, which was my term. 1961 W. Vaughan-Thomas Anzio ii. 16 An end run occurs when the forward lines clash together into immobility and the backs race round the supine mass towards the goal. 1968 Economist 17 Aug. 29/2 An ‘end run’ around to Congress, bypassing the Secretary of Defence, is the time-honoured way for the military to put pressure on the Secretary to yield on weapons and budgetary matters. 1973 Times 17 Apr. 9/1 Denouncing proposed draft legislation, Mr Humphrey said in the Senate that it was a ‘bold-faced grab’ and ‘outrageous end-run’ by the Pentagon designed to evade congressional control. |
| 1915 W. J. Sollas Anc. Hunters (ed. 2) 298 The grattoirs or *end scrapers are generally short and rough. 1937 Garrod & Bate Stone Age Mt. Carmel I. i. iii. 32 End-scrapers. |
| 1881 Hasluck Lathe Work 169 The face of the pulley forms the bearing to prevent the *endshake. |
| 1858 Glenny Gard. Every-day Bk. 89/1 Nearly all the *end-shoots may be safely taken away, for they take up the strength of the plant. |
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3777 Alle he [Korah, etc.] sunken ðe erðe wiðin..Swilc *endesið vn-biwen hauen. |
| 1924 R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind iii. §8. 103 When the animal has attained his goal, he has arrived at a situation which to him is an *end-situation. |
| 1918 C. S. Myers Present-Day Applic. Psychol. 13 Thus when the fatigue involved is slight, and the influence of practice or of *end-spurt is sufficiently great, a larger instead of a smaller output of work will occur towards the end of the day's work. 1963 J. M. Fraser Psychol. (ed. 2) xvii. 222 A very dramatic effect in speeding up the tempo..by..extending the influence shown in the ‘end-spurt’. |
| 1888, 1906 *End standard [see line standard a]. 1975 Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. i. 7 With few exceptions to the rule, most engineering devices depend upon end standards. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 101 In most English watches all the escapement pivots run on *end stones. |
| 1881 Athenæum 23 Apr. 557/2 Mr. Rhoades's blank verse..is distinguished..by a frequent tendency to *end-stopping. |
| 1877 Dowden Shaks. Prim. iv. 39 At first..the verse is *end-stopt. |
| 1851 C. Cist Cincinnati 206 Circular, center, card, and *end tables. |
| 1917 J. H. McConkey End of Age 28 Similar to this will be the conditions in the *end-time. 1953 Scottish Jrnl. Theol. VI. 162 We believe that..although the full pattern and purpose belongs to the End-Time, reflections of it can be mirrored in the corporate meetings of the Church. |
| 1953 Berg Dict. New Words 74/2 *End-use. |
| 1958 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 11/1 Forecasts..are not made simpler by the ease with which one kind of fuel can be substituted for another in many of the end-uses. 1963 Economist 16 Feb. 627/2 Esso policy of not selling chemicals to the *end-user. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 229 The Flue, Shaft, Fire, and Ash-hole to be without, though joining close to the *End-wall. |
| 1848 App. to Report Dep. Keeper Public Records ix. 111 The cleft wool to be kept by itself and the *endwool by itself. |
| 1916 J. H. Bancroft Handbk. Athletic Games 129 *End-zone, ten-yard territory between the end line and the goal line. 1935 Encycl. Sports 528/1 American rugby... The playing field is..divided into the field of play and end zones. These are, respectively, 100 yds. and 10 yds. each in length. 1961 F. C. Avis Sportsman's Gloss. 245/1 Face-off spot{ddd}in the end zone, they are 15 ft. from goal line. 1963 Dict. Canadian English (Intermediate) 292/2 End zone. 1. in rugby football, the part of the field between each goal line and the corresponding end of the field. 2. in hockey, the ice between each blue line and the corresponding end of the rink. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 11 July 32/5 Then Gabler..threw a perfect one [sc. pass] into the end zone to Profit. |
Add:
[IV.] [25.] end-note orig. U.S., any of a number of explanatory notes or references placed at the end of a book, article, etc. (
usu. in
pl.);
cf. footnote n.| 1950 C. G. Gaum et al. Report Writing (ed. 3) 163 A few reports..substitute *end-notes for footnotes, placing all notes in one place at the end of the report. 1968 Listener 13 June 779/3 It is characteristic of his..reliability..that 40-odd pages out of 290 should be given up to appendices, endnotes, bibliography and index, while footnotes probably total another 20 pages. 1986 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 July 781/3 Schmidt-Häuer's sources have to be taken on trust. There is not a footnote or endnote in sight. |
▸
end-blown adj. (a) (of an egg) hollowed out by blowing through one of a pair of small holes made at each end (now
rare);
(b) Music designating a flute or other wind instrument played by blowing into the end;
cf. side-blown adj. (b) at
side n.1 Additions
| 1900 Condor 2 27/2, I..used the time-honored cigar boxes to contain my scientifically (!) collected, *end-blown specimens. 1907 Proc. Musical Assoc. June 173 The outline of a figure of an animal playing on a musical instrument..seems to me, judging from the position,..to be intended for an end-blown flute. 2005 R. Nidel World Music: Basics ii. 150 The duduk, an end-blown, double-reed, recorder-type instrument made from apricot wood, is the national musical symbol of Armenia. |
▪ II. † end var. of
ande,
Obs., breath.
| 1597–1605 Polwart Flyting 568 His stinking end corrupted as men knawes. a 1600 Poems 16th Cent. 29 (Jam.) The sillie saul is quyte foryet, Quhill haistelie gais out his end. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. Act K. William 7 Gif blude be drawen (in anie part of the bodie) vnder the end (or mouth) [L. subtus anhelitum]. |
▪ III. end, v.1 (
ɛnd)
Forms: 1
endian, 2–4
endien,
enden,
endenn (
Orm.), 3–5
e(ende, (4
endy,
hende,
eondi,
pa. pple. 4
ent), 4–
end. See also y-end.
[OE. ęndian, corresp. to OFris. endia, OS. endôn, endiôn, (Du. einden), OHG. entôn, entiôn, (MHG., mod.G. enden), ON. enda (Sw. ända, Da. ende):—OTeut. *andjôjan, f. *andjo- end n.] I. Transitive and absolute senses.
† 1. a. trans. To carry through to the end; to finish, complete. Also (in
ME.), to perform (religious duties).
Obs.| c 975 Rushw. Gosp. John iv. 34 Þætte ic endigo werc his. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 43 Men þe on þisse liue her hare scrift. enden nalden. a 1225 Ancr. R. 44 Goð biuoren ower weouede & endeð ðer þe graces. a 1300 Cursor M. 8310 Þis wark..mai noght thoru þi-self be don, Þin sun sal end it, salamon. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4 Graunt me þi helpe..þis werke for to ende. 1483 Cath. Angl. 114 to Ende, conficere. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1843 He..kiss'd the fatal knife, to end his vow. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Annot., When I had ended my booke..I was requested to explaine some thing. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. v. i. 114 This same day Must end that worke, the Ides of March began. 1738 Pope Epit. Sat. ii. 254 Pray end what you began. |
b. To be the end or result of.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 9699 Pes endes al þat wel es wroght. |
2. a. To bring to an end, conclude, come to a termination of (an action, a speech, a period of time, one's life, etc.; formerly sometimes with inf. as
obj.). Often with
adv. of manner or
advb. phrase, or with
off,
up; also
const. with.
| c 1305 Pilate 259 in E.E.P. (1862), Þus pilatus endede his lyf. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 47 Eilred at London endid his life. 1340 Ayenb. 110 Huet may þe zone betere acsy to his uader: þanne bread wyþoute more uor þane day to endy? c 1340 Cursor M. (Trin.) 10487 Whenne she had endede hir preyere She pleyned efte on þis manere. 1483 Cath. Angl. 115 It is Endit, explicit. 1557 North Diall of Princes 229 b/2 We neuer cease to behold them, nor yet end to bewayle them. 1609 Bible (Douay) 2 Esdras vii. 1 When I had ended to speake these wordes. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 560 Not then the drudging Hind his Labour ends. 1713 Berkeley Guardian viii. Wks. III. 170 He has ended his discourse with a Prayer. 1717 ― Tour Italy Wks. IV. 530 We ended the day with music at St. Agnes. 1830 Tennyson Amphion 50 Ere his song was ended. 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. xii. §1, I find that I have only now the power of ending this work, not of concluding it. 1862 Grant Capt. of Guard xxxix. He ended his life in misery. 1884 G. Allen Philistia III. 250 Capital sentence to end off one's speech with. 1926 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Aug. 109 Those things you use to divide off words and end up sentences with. |
b. absol.;
esp. with reference to speech: To finish, conclude.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxvi[i]. 15 End as þou has bygunen. c 1340 Cursor M. (Trin.) 5459 Whenne he endide of his sawe His sones he blessed on a rawe. 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 329, I will therefore add somewhat concerning the disgrace which cometh unto marriage..and so end. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 31, I know it wel, sir, you alwaies end ere you begin. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 106 He ended frowning, and his look denounc'd Desperate revenge. a 1704 T. Brown Sat. agst. Woman Wks. 1730 I. 57 Quite tired of the nauseous theme, I end. 1879 Furnivall Rep. E. Eng. T.S. 24 To end, the Society wants more money. Mod. I shall end with a motion. |
c. Colloq. phr. to end it (all), to commit suicide.
| 1911 Maclean's Mag. Sept. 172/1 Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth while; sometimes I'm half inclined to end it. 1925 F. Harris My life & Loves IV. iv. 90 This is the end; the sooner I put a bullet through my head the better... I took up the rifle to end it all when suddenly my eye caught sight of the..tins of sardines. |
† 3. To rid (a person)
of.
Obs.| 1598 Greene Jas IV (1861) 211 What may I do to end me of these doubts? |
4. a. To put an end to, cause to cease, abrogate, destroy; formerly also to dissolve (a parliament).
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. ix. 6 Ða hi hit endian sceoldan. c 1200 Ormin 19797 Þeȝȝ unnderstodenn wel, Þatt..teȝȝre laȝhe all endedd ben Þurrh Cristess newe lare. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 214 At þis parlement..was it ent, aliens to auance. 1490 Caxton Eneydos viii. 36 The swerde..ended in that hour hir lyf. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 647 The king dissolved his Parliament, which was the laste parliament that ever he ended. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 41 If I were yong againe, the sword should end it. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 53 End all dispute: and fix the year precise. 1801 Southey Thalaba iv. xxvi, That merciful deed For ever ends thy suffering. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. i. 79 The desperate crew..Resolve at once to end the audacious strife. 1877 Morley Crit. Misc. Ser. i. (1878) 200 To talk of France seeing good to end Protestantism in a night. |
† b. To make an end of (a person); to kill.
Obs.| a 1340 Hampole Cant. Psalter 497 Ffra morne til eueyn þou sall end me. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 1064 Hit is riht þat þe rink be reufully ended. a 1400–50 Alexander 453 All his enmys in þat erd he endid in a stounde. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. iii. 9 This Sword hath ended him. 1609 Bp. Barlow Answ. Nameless Cath. 300 The Pope mingled powder with Gemens Sugar, which should not End him presently, but Waste him by little and little. 1623 Fletcher Bloody Brother iv. iii, Power enough..To end the murtherer. |
II. Intransitive senses.
5. a. Of a period of time, action, continuous state, series, book, chapter, etc.: To come to an end. Also
colloq. to end up.
| a 1000 Guthlac 21 (Gr.) ær þou endien ealle ᵹesceafte. c 1200 Ormin 6514 Her endeþþ nu þiss Goddspell þuss. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 166 Forð endede ðat fifte niȝt. a 1300 Cursor M. 7840 Þat eild bigan at abraham. It endes her in godds nam. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1770 When his lif sal here ende, He what never whider he sal wende. c 1350 Will Palerne 540 Þis bitter bale botlesse wol hende! 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ix. ii. (1495) 346 Whan meuynge fayllyth thenne tyme endyth. 1486 Bk. St. Albans D iij a, Here endyth the proceis of hawkyng. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 2 Here endeth the prologue, and here after foloweth the fyrst boke. 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. i. 25 All's well that ends well, yet. 1605 Daniel Queen's Arcadia iv. iv, All extremities must mend or end. 1676 Hobbes Iliad i. 289 Thus in disorder the Assembly ends. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iv. 9 The base degenerate Iron off-spring ends. 1728 Pope Dunc. ii. 245 But that this well-disputed game may end, Sound forth, my brayers. 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms iv. 654 To-day our woes can never end. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 305 For thinking how all stories end with this. 1874 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. cii. Introd., It ends up right gloriously with calm confidence for the future. 1875 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. viii. (ed. 5) 124 The line of Charles the Great ended in a.d. 911. Mod. The quarter ending June 24. |
b. To issue or result
in.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 102 Þe worldes urakele urouren..schulen enden ine sor & ine seoruwe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 194 Couetous þere come knightes full ofte, And endit in auerys to ay lastand sorowe. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. vii. 30 No Discourse whatsoever, can End in absolute Knowledge of Fact. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1706) 24 Sobbing the Leaves of the Plant..ends in scorching. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 10 ¶11 There is a contagious Sickness, which, it is feared, will end in a Pestilence. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 380 The controversy..ended in both parties admitting, etc. 1870 H. Macmillan Bible Teach. x. 204 A life of godliness ends in a saintly death. 1885 Manch. Exam. 6 July 4/7 The cricket match..ended in a draw. |
c. Of persons, Const.
in, or
by, with gerund: To come ultimately to (do something).
| 1825 Coleridge Aids to Refl. 101 He, who begins by loving Christianity better than Truth, will..end in loving himself better than all. |
6. To die.
rare in
mod. use. Also
to end up (
slang).
| c 1200 Ormin 8347 Affterr þatt tatt Herode king Wass ended inn hiss sinne. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 370 Steuene..suþþe was kyng of Engelond, & endede myd ssame. c 1340 Cursor M. 6724 Þe beest shal wiþ stonyng ende. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1389, I yeve..To thy doughter alle my lond, Yf that I end there. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 353 Farwell friends, thus Thisbie ends. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1865) VI. xv. x. 63 A cannon-ball smites the life out of him, and he ended here. 1886 Rider Haggard K. Solomon's Mines ii. 32 We should only end up like my poor friend Silvestre. |
7. Of a portion of space, material object, treatise, etc.: To terminate, have its end or extremity.
| 1611 Cotgr., Aboutir en pointe, to end sharpe, or pointed. 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. vi. v. (1885) 890 It [the glacier] ended off upon the land. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 424 The promontory which ends in the Lizard. Mod. His property ends at the fifth milestone. An iron rod ending in a sharp point. The plateau ends abruptly in a precipice. |
III. 8. trans. To furnish with an end of a particular kind, for protection or ornament.
| 1889 Cent. Dict. s.v., To end a cane with an iron ferrule. |
9. To put
up on end; to up-end.
| 1889 Cent. Dict., End..to set on end; set upright. 1890 Century Mag. Aug. 617/1 We ended-up an old plank..against the twelve-foot brick wall. 1890 J. Service Thir Notandums x. 72 There's aye a wheen toom barrels endit up and waiting to be filled. |
¶ to end or mend: see
to mend or end (
mend v. 12 c).
| a 1670 S. Collins Pres. State Russia (1671) ii. 9 It is a strange chastisement to kill, seeing the design hereof was never intended to end people, but to mend them. 1820 Scott Monast. ii. v. 177 My fate calls me elsewhere, to scenes where I shall end it or mend it. |
▪ IV. end, v.2 Obs. exc. dial. [perh. a dial. variant or corruption of inn v., influenced by end v.1 It has been suggested that the word is a corruption of
*in-do, corresponding to
Ger. einthun used in the same sense; but this seems impossible.]
trans. To put (corn, hay, etc.) into (a barn, stack, etc.); to ‘get in’. Also
fig. Hence
ˈended ppl. a.| 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. vi. 37, I..holpe to reape the Fame Which he did end all his. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 109 His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn That ten day-labourers could not end. 1858 Hereford Times 23 Jan. in Dyce Shaks. Cor. v. vi. 37 Three well-ended hay-ricks..a rick of well-ended hay. |
▪ V. † end, v. var. ande v.
Obs., to breathe, blow.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21075 Als a slepand aends oft. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (1885) 29 Thair mouthis had blawne vpon or endet as we speik. |