Bitter End Definition

noun
A final, painful, or disastrous extremity.
American Heritage
The inboard end of a rope, cable, or chain.
Webster's New World
The inboard end of a chain, rope, or cable, especially the end of a rope or cable that is wound around a bitt.
American Heritage

(nautical) That part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor.

Note: To pay out a rope to the bitter end means to pay it all out.
Wiktionary
(idiomatic) The end of a long and difficult process.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Bitter End

Noun

Singular:
bitter end
Plural:
bitter-ends

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Bitter End

  • to the bitter end

Origin of Bitter End

  • English bitter bitt (bitt) (–er) end Sense 1, influenced by bitter

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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bitter end