BITTER END Definition & Meaning

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bitter end

[ bit-er end bit-er end ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the conclusion of a difficult or unpleasant situation; the last or furthest extremity:
Despite the unpleasant scenes in the movie, she insisted on staying until the bitter end.
Nautical.
1. the inboard end of an anchor chain or cable, secured in the chain locker of a vessel.
2. the end of any chain or cable.

bitter end

noun

nautical the end of a line, chain, or cable, esp the end secured in the chain locker of a vessel
1. until the finish of a task, job, or undertaking, however unpleasant or difficult
2. until final defeat or death

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of bitter end¹

1620–30 in form bitters end; probably bitt + -er ¹( def ), later taken as bitter

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of bitter end¹

C19: in both senses perhaps from bitt

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Idioms and Phrases

The last extremity; also, death or ruin. For example, I'm supporting the union's demands to the bitter end , or Even though they fight a lot, I'm sure Mom and Dad will stay together to the bitter end . The source of this term may have been nautical, a bitter being a turn of a cable around posts, or bitts , on a ship's deck, and the bitter end meaning “the part of the cable that stays inboard.” Thus, when a rope is paid out to the bitter end, no more remains. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The death rate perpetuated stereotypes about drug dealers willing to shoot it out to the bitter end, risking the lives of their loved ones nearby and despite knowing the cops don’t miss.

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“If you were to say you’re going to do a guest worker bill before you take care of the people that are here… I will fight that to the bitter end,” he said.

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"China will fight to the bitter end of any trade war," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said after their country announced tit-for-tat tariffs on agricultural imports from the US.

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Meanwhile China - which now faces tariffs of 20% after Trump doubled an earlier levy - has vowed to fight any trade war to the "bitter end".

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"China will fight to the bitter end of any trade war," the foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing declared, after China announced tit-for-tat tariffs on agricultural imports from the US.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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