Dictionary

bitter end en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

The figurative usage is influenced by bitter (“unpleasant, arduous”). Indeed, the phrase has been reinterpreted by most today as bitter + end—compare bitter cold.

Meanings

1. That part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor.
   • pay out a rope to the bitter end (pay out all of the rope)
2. The final six fathoms (11 m) of anchor chain before the point of attachment in the chain locker of modern US naval vessels.
3. (idiomatic) The end of a long and difficult process.

Forms

Deriveds

bitter-ender

Relateds

fight to the finish · the end of one's rope · to the bitter end · until the bitter end · last gasp · bitts · to the bitter end and beyond

Translations (3)

ru коренно́й коне́ц (that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor) · fi katkera loppu (the end of a long and difficult process) · fr étalingure (that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor)