BITTER END

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bitter end mean? 

• BITTER END (noun)
  The noun BITTER END has 2 senses:

1. the final extremity (however unpleasant it may be)

2. (nautical) the inboard end of a line or cable especially the end that is wound around a bitt

  Familiarity information: BITTER END used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BITTER END (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The final extremity (however unpleasant it may be)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

he was determined to fight to the bitter end

Hypernyms ("bitter end" is a kind of...):

extremity (an extreme condition or state (especially of adversity or disease))

Sense 2

Meaning:

(nautical) the inboard end of a line or cable especially the end that is wound around a bitt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bitter end" is a kind of...):

end; terminal (either extremity of something that has length)

Domain category:

navigation; sailing; seafaring (the work of a sailor)

Holonyms ("bitter end" is a part of...):

line (something (as a cord or rope) that is long and thin and flexible)

 Context examples 

And do we not promise to go on to the bitter end?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Let us follow it out to the bitter end.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When a man gets killed I never like to get mixed up in it in any way. I keep out. When I was a young man it was different—if a friend of mine died, no matter how, I stuck with them to the end. You may think that's sentimental but I mean it—to the bitter end.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)