American Heritage Dictionary Entry: end HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com end- Share: Tweet pref. Variant of endo-. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. end (ĕnd) Share: Tweet n. 1. Either extremity of something that has length: the end of the pier. 2. The outside or extreme edge or physical limit; a boundary: the end of town. 3. The point in time when an action, event, or phenomenon ceases or is completed; the conclusion: the end of the day. 4. A result; an outcome. 5. Something toward which one strives; a goal. See Synonyms at intention. 6. The termination of life or existence; death: “A man awaits his end / Dreading and hoping all” (William Butler Yeats). 7. The ultimate extent; the very limit: the end of one's patience. 8. Slang The very best; the ultimate: This pizza's the end. 9. A remainder; a remnant. 10. a. A share of a responsibility or obligation: your end of the bargain. b. A particular area of responsibility: in charge of the business end of the campaign. 11. A warp end. 12. Football Either of the players in the outermost position on the line of scrimmage. Offensive ends are eligible to catch passes. v. end·ed, end·ing, ends v. tr. 1. To bring to a conclusion: Let's end this discussion. 2. To form the last or concluding part of: the song that ended the performance. See Synonyms at complete. 3. To destroy: ended our hopes. v. intr. 1. To come to a finish; cease: The rain ended. 2. To arrive at a place, situation, or condition as a result of a course of action. Often used with up: He ended up as an adviser to the president. The painting ended up being sold for a million dollars. 3. To die. Idioms: at the end of (one's) rope (or tether) Out of energy or patience; exhausted or exasperated. at the end of the day When everything is considered; in the final analysis. end it all To kill oneself; die by suicide. in the end Eventually; ultimately: All will turn out well in the end. no end A great deal: She had no end of stories to tell. The news upset us no end. on end 1. Having one end down; upright: books placed on end on the shelf. 2. Without stopping: drove for hours on end. [Middle English ende, from Old English; see ant- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 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