end of the line
47
4.1
- noun
:
final
- After years of hard work, they finally reached the end of the line for their project.
They, there's, they've reached the, the end of the line on these fungicides that can stop them.
- They, there's, they've reached the, the end of the line on these fungicides that can stop them.
- Then we get to the end of the line at Paddington and I went and I sat on a park bench outside the train station.
- There's never a bad time to shut down somebody's meth use because meth is like it's there's only one or two drugs at the real end of the line.
Examples
-
Two people are gonna ride to the end of the line, all right.
-
The next stop is the end of the line.
-
It's the end of the line for me, too.
-
This is the end of the line.
-
We found our place at the end of the line.
Fiction book (1996) -
Charlie takes his place at the end of the line.
Fiction book (1993) -
I see engines, so this must be the end of the line.
-
The Battery Park stop was at the end of the line.
Fiction book (1995) -
It's the end of the line, Lyle.
-
That's the end of the line.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
The final part of something, like an event or story
398
1.0
The final part of something, like an event, story, or relationship
273
1.6
The end of an event, period, or activity
180
3.6
The last, most exciting part of a show or event
167
2.2
The last part of an event, activity, or piece of writing
70
2.0
The last part of a period or event
26
4.3
A fixed time or level when something stops being valid
13
3.5
The last part of something, especially a period or event
11
5.4
A place or time when something ends
8
5.1
The final part of an event or activity
3
5.5
The end point of something like a road or tunnel
2
3.6
A complete end to an activity or process
1
3.1
A time when an activity or event ends
1
7.5
The final goal of a process or journey
1
3.9
The place or moment when something finishes
The last date when something must happen
The last small part of something often thought less important
The last point of a path, journey, or process
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'end' (final point) combined with 'line' (a row of text) yields the location where a line finishes, so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer it refers to the line's termination. In computing the phrase maps to a newline/line-termination marker, a technical realization that may require domain knowledge but does not change the transparent, literal relation of the parts.
Etymology
End of the line comes from the simple picture of a road, bus route, or train track that stops. The end of a line is the last place where something can go, so the phrase means 'the point where something stops or is finished'.