end

Less common meanings

7. 7
   deathnouncountablewith the

   Death, seen as the final point of a life.

   As her end drew near, she asked to hear her favorite songs once more.

   The novel traces a king's slow march toward his end.

   UsageCommon in meet one's end and come to a sad end; the end alone is a gentle way to say death.

   Similardeath, demise, fate, doom

   Oppositebirth

   Note

   With an adjective or possessive it becomes a fate, as in a terrible end, or "lamented in thy end" in Pope's epitaph on Mr. Gay. In Shakespeare's Richard III, to be another's end is to be the cause of their death. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Pope's epitaph on Mr. Gay contains the words “lamented in thy end”. en.wikisource.org
   • The quoted words are exact. en.wikisource.org
   • Shakespeare's Richard III uses being another's end to mean causing their death; King Edward IV speaks the relevant line. shakespeare.mit.edu
8. 8
   nouncolloquialcountable

   The portion of a shared task, deal, or exchange that falls to one person or side, especially what they are responsible for.

   We held up our end of the bargain and paid on time, but the contractor never finished the job.

   Sales brings in the clients, and our end is making sure every order ships on schedule.

   UsageMostly in hold up or keep up one's end of the bargain, and on my end or on your end.

   Similarpart, share, side

   Note

   The picture is two people carrying a load between them, each taking one end, so failing your end lets the weight drop on the other person. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The shared-load image illustrates doing one's share: each person supports one end. apps.lib.ua.edu
9. 9
   outcomenoun

   The outcome or result of a process or course of events.

   The end of all his scheming was that he lost every friend he had.

   The end of years of saving was a comfortable retirement.

   Similaroutcome, result, upshot, culmination

   Note

   Outcome rather than aim. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar has the wish to know "the end of this day's business ere it come," meaning how it will turn out. Keep it apart from the "purpose" meaning: an end you arrive at is a result, while an end you set out for is a goal. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Julius Caesar is a play by William Shakespeare. en.wikipedia.org
   • The quotation occurs in Julius Caesar, Act 5, Scene 1, spoken by Brutus; the context supports interpreting 'end' as the outcome. shakespeare.mit.edu
10. 10
    leftover piecenouncountable

    A remaining piece; a remnant, fragment, or scrap.

    Only a charred end of the log remained in the fireplace.

    The tailor saved every odd end of fabric for patching.

    UsageBest known in odds and ends, and more often plural than singular.

    Similarremnant, scrap, fragment, stub, stump

    Note

    Shakespeare's Richard III shows an older, freer use: a villain clothes himself "with old odd ends stolen out of holy writ," scraps of scripture worn as a disguise. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Richard III is a play by William Shakespeare. en.wikipedia.org
    • Richard, Duke of Gloucester, speaks the quoted words in Act 1, Scene 3, describing scripture used to disguise his villainy. shakespeare.mit.edu
11. 11
    curlingnouncountable

    In curling, one round of play in which both teams deliver all their stones in turn and the score is counted; in the standard four-player game each team throws eight rocks, two per player.

    She made a brilliant takeout to steal the end.

    With the score level, the final end would decide the game.

    Note

    Curling's unit of play is closer to an inning than to a period on a clock. It lasts as long as it takes both teams to throw their stones, turn and turn about: eight rocks a side in the four-player game, five in mixed doubles, where one more stone per team is placed before the end begins. Games are reckoned in these units, so players and commentators speak of the third end or the last end. Rocks is the curler's word for the stones. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • An end is completed by playing the stones and determining the score, rather than by a fixed period expiring. worldcurling.org
    • Four-player teams deliver eight stones per end, two per player, alternating with the opposition. worldcurling.org
    • In mixed doubles, each team delivers five stones and begins each end with an additional stone already placed. worldcurling.org
    • Games consist of a specified number of ends. worldcurling.org
    • Rock is another curling term for stone. worldcurling.org
12. 12
    cricketnouncountable

    In cricket, either end of the pitch, from which the bowling takes place, often named after a feature of the ground behind it.

    The fast bowler preferred to attack from the Pavilion End.

    After every over, the bowling switches to the other end of the pitch.

    Note

    Cricket uses the word for each end of the pitch, the wicket a bowler runs in to bowl from. On a named ground an end often takes its name from a feature behind it, capitalized like any proper noun: the Pavilion End. Bowling alternates between the two ends from over to over. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Bowling takes place from an end of the pitch towards the opposite end. en.wikipedia.org
    • An end may be named after a feature behind it, but ends can also honour people: Emirates Old Trafford has ends named after James Anderson and Brian Statham. cricket.lancashirecricket.co.uk
    • Under the standard Laws, bowling alternates between ends after each over. lords.org
13. 13
    moneynounslangplural

    Money, always used in the plural form ends.

    Man, I can't come out tonight, my ends are looking real thin this week.

    She counted her ends carefully before handing over the rent.

    Similarcash, money, dough

    Note

    African-American Vernacular English slang that works only in the plural: your ends, my ends, never an end. It shares a plural with the leftover-scraps meaning, but the two never overlap in use.

14. 14
    mathsnouncountable

    In mathematics, an ideal point of a graph or similar complex, representing a direction in which the structure extends infinitely.

    The infinite square grid has just one end, while a path that is infinite in both directions has two.

    An infinite binary tree has uncountably many ends.

    Note

    A point the graph does not contain but the mathematics adds: an ideal point standing for one way of heading off to infinity. Rays that run out in the same direction share an end, so a finite graph has none. Do not confuse the term with the endpoints of an edge, which are ordinary vertices. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Ends can be treated as ideal points added to a graph. math.uni-hamburg.de
    • An end represents a way of extending to infinity. ediss.sub.uni-hamburg.de
    • Rays going to infinity in the same graph-theoretic direction belong to the same end. math.uni-hamburg.de
    • Finite graphs have no ends. ora.ox.ac.uk
    • The endpoints of an edge are vertices, distinct from ends at infinity. en.wikipedia.org
15. 15
    carpet yarnnouncountable

    In weaving, a single warp thread, one of the lengthwise threads set up on a loom.

    She threaded every end through the loom by hand.

    A fine Brussels carpet packs many ends into each inch.