bitter end
- noun
- Specialized
:
extremo amargo
- He led the bitter end of the line through the block to secure it properly.
Examples
-
What form would religion take at the end of a long star flight to the bitter end of the attainable universe?
Fiction book (2000) -
Ringo unclipped the beeper's snap from the bitter end of the mainline and fed the end of the monofilament through a block that hung over the rail at my right shoulder.
Fiction book (1999) -
Loonie and Sisco stepped up and wrapped their hands around the bitter end of the rope.
Fiction book (1994) -
Pulling the slack through the block, Ringo walked aft with the bitter end to the front of the cart house, where he tied it to the free end coming from the spool, dropped the line on the deck, and gave me a thumbs-up.
Fiction book (1999) -
The crew member secured the bitter end of the rope to the cleat on the dock.
-
To moor the boat, tie the bitter end of the dock line to the pier.
Surface Forms
Morphology
bitter + end
The components 'bitter' (unpleasant, harsh) and 'end' (final part) transparently suggest an unpleasant or harsh final stage, so a learner who knows both words can infer an unpleasant ending. However, the full idiomatic nuance — continuing stubbornly or enduring difficulties until the very finish — goes beyond the straightforward composition and is not completely predictable without exposure, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
The noun bitter end comes from old ships: it was the part of a rope that stayed on board because it was tied to a wooden post called a bitt, so it meant the fixed 'end' of the line.
