End sb.

Forms: 1–7 ende, (2 aend, -e, 4 eende, hende, 4, 6 eande, 4 aend, eond, 5 heynd, 7 dial. eend), 3– end. Also 3–5 ȝende, 4 ȝend, 5 ȝynde, 6 yende. [Common. Teut.: OE. ęnde str. masc., corresponds to OS. endi (Du. einde), OHG. enti masc. (also neut.; MHG. ende masc., neut., mod.G. ende neut.), ON. ender (also ende wk. masc.; Sw. ände masc., ända fem., Da. ende), Goth. andeis:—OTeut. *andjo-z:—pre-Teutonic *antjo-s, cogn. with Skr. ánta masc., neut., end, boundary, with AND prep., and with OHG. andi, endi, ON. enne neut. (:—OTeut. *anþjo(m:—*a·ntjo(m) forehead.

  In some dialects of ME. the e became long. The forms ȝend(e, ȝynd(e, yende may be merely phonetic developments of ēnd, or they may possibly be due to the influence of the vb. Y-END (OE. ȝeendian).]

  I.  With reference to space.

  1.  The extremity or outermost part (in any direction) of a portion of space, or of anything extended in space; utmost limit. Obs. in general sense; retained in phrase, the end(s of the earth.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter Ps. xviii. [xix.] 4. In alle eorðan uteo de swoeʓ heara and in endas ymbhwyrftes eorðan word heara.

c. 1000.  Ags. Ps. xviii. [xix]. 4. Ofer ealle eorðan endas [færð] heora word.

c. 1305.  St. Kenelm, 150, in E. E. P. (1862), 51. Forto pleyen him bi þe wodes ende.

1389.  in Eng. Gilds (1870), 7. W^t oute þe cite townes ende.

a. 1400–50.  Alexander, 173. All þe erth of Egipt fra end vnto othere Bees conquirid.

1599.  ? Greene, George a Greene (1861), 265. But darest thou walk to the towns end with me?

1657.  J. Smith, Myst. Rhet., 66. Christ shall … reign from the River to the end of the land.

1713.  Pope, Windsor For., 399. Earth’s distant ends our glory shall behold.

Mod.  I would go with him to the world’s end.

  b.  A limit of magnitude or multitude.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter Ps. cxliv. [cxlv.] 3. Micel dryhten and herʓendlic swiðe and micelnisse his nis ende.

1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., III. iii. 53. Many a man knowes no end of his goods.

1865.  Mill, in Evening Star, 10 July. There was no end to the advantages.

  † c.  A boundary. In pl. territorial boundaries [? after L. fines]. Obs.

1383.  Wyclif, Isa. x. 13. Y haue take awei the endis of peplis.

1483.  Caxton, Gold. Leg., 72/2. The Ryuer of the endes of the phylisteis.

1526.  Tindale, Acts xvii. 26. And the endes of their in habitacion.

1570.  Billingsley, Euclid, I. def. 5. 2. A line is the ende and terme of a superficies.

  † 2.  A ‘quarter,’ division, region (of the world, of a country or town). Obs. (but cf. EAST-END, WEST-END, where this sense blends with 3).

c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., II. i. Þas feower heafodricu sindon on feower endum þyses middangeardes.

a. 1225.  St. Marher. (1862), 16. Ant al þe ende þæt tu ant heo habbeð in ierðet.

1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 377. Al þat aȝt was in Engelond he let somony in ech ende To Salesbury.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 32. Alle þe north ende was in his kepyng.

c. 1450.  Lonelich, Grail, lii. 540. Ȝoure fadir sendeth Into every ende aftyr his knyhtes.

  3.  One of the two extremities of a line, or of the ‘length’ or greatest dimension of any object; that part of anything that includes the extremity of its length. From end to end: from one extremity to the other; throughout the length.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 430. He þe well bloweð went þe neruwe ende of þe horne to his owune muðe.

c. 1340.  Cursor M., 23201 (Edinb.). Þe pitte of helle pin, it es sa dep … þat end ne bes þar neuir apon.

c. 1394.  J. Malverne, Contn. Higden (Rolls), IX. App. 3. Perrexitque ad locum qui Anglice vocatur ‘Mile ende.’

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 8795. Euer folowand the fell to þe fyngur endys.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, xxv. 75. Oberon satte at the tables ende.

1551.  Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. xiv. In the eande of the other line.

1602.  Return fr. Parnass., II. vi. (Arb.), 32. Your Hobby will meete you at the lanes end.

1633.  Lithgow, Totall Discourse, 22. I haue trod foure seuerall times from end to end of it [Italy].

1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 231. The Air Ground-pipe, laid the whole length of the Green-house...; and reaching from end to end.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, II. 79/1. The Bill berry, or Windberry, is round at the end.

1721–1800.  Bailey, Cann-Hook, an iron hook made fast to the end of a rope.

1758.  Johnson, Idler, No. 33, ¶ 25. Mutton-chops off the worst end.

1760.  Wesley, Jrnl., 30 June (1827), III. 9. I was quickly wet to my toe’s end.

1863.  Kingsley, Water-Bab., 39. The end of his own nose.

1867.  W. W. Smyth, Coal & Coal-mining, 166. On the floor of the cage or at the ends of a rod passing through its upper bar.

  † b.  The point of a spear. Obs.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 9132. He bare hym þurgh the brest with a bright end.

  c.  (see LAND’S END.)

  d.  ? transf. In the game of Bowls: The portion of a game that is played from one end of the green to the other (see quot. 1876). Formerly also a definite portion of a game in Billiards and some other sports.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 263/1. Five ends make a Game by Day light, and three by Candle light.

1747.  Scheme Equip. Men of War, 37. Playing an End or two at that innocent, tho’ laudable Game, called PUSH PIN.

1876.  H. F. Wilkinson, Bowls, in Encycl. Brit., IV. 181. The bowling generally takes place alternately from the two ‘ends’ of the green. A ‘void end’ is when neither side can score a cast.

  4.  The surface that bounds an object at either of its two extremities; the ‘head’ of a cask.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 274 b. The hopes kepeth fast the bordes of the vessell … & holdeth in y^e endes that they start not.

1816.  J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 224. Draw lines across each end of the stone.

Mod.  The ends of the cask were stove in. The ends of the box are of hard wood.

  5.  A piece broken, cut off, or left; a fragment, remnant. Cf. CANDLE-END. Of cloth: A half-length, or half-piece. Also in Odds and ends (see ODDS).

1481–90.  Howard Househ. Bks. (1841), 141. My lord sent to Stoke be the carter ij.c. xxiiij. lb. yren, conteyning xj. endes.

1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. F vj. Scraps or shreds or short ends of lace.

1605.  Bacon, Adv. Learn., II. 66. Which Collections are much like a Frippers or Brokers shoppe; that hath ends of euerie thing, but nothing of worth.

1647.  Ward, Simp. Cobler, 13. Give him leave to sell all his rags, and odde-ends.

1704.  in Lond. Gaz., No. 3986/4. Lost … 5 yards and a half of superfine … Black, 12 yards and a half of refine Black … being both Last Ends.

1712.  E. Hatton, Merch. Mag., 22. An End or Half Cloth, or a Long or Whole Cloth.

1713.  Swift, Frenzy of J. Dennis, Wks. 1755, III. I. 140. On his table were some ends of verse and of candles.

1887.  Rider Haggard, Jess, xxxii. The bit of candle … was … burnt out, so … he produced a box full of ‘ends.’

  b.  fig. Obs. exc. in Odds and ends (q.v.).

1599.  Shaks., Much Ado, I. i. 290. Ere you flout old ends any further, examine your conscience.

1605.  B. Jonson, Volpone, Prol. Nor hales he in a gull, old ends reciting, To stop gaps in his loose writing.

1607.  R. Wilkinson, Merch. Royall, 26. Euerie Ladie … if her husband haue bribed out but an end of an office, yet she reuels and playes Rex.

1634.  Bp. Hall, Occas. Medit., Wks. (1808), 104. To improve these short ends of time, which are stolen from his more important avocations.

1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 251. They call … language of a finer Dresse, Ends of Playes.

  c.  A part, proportion; only with adjs. of quantity, as in † micel ende (OE.) a great part; † most end, also most an end [? corruption of *mosten ende, OE. mǽstan ende], used adverbially = ‘for the most part,’ ‘almost entirely,’ ‘especially’; † none end, no portion; a good (great), end (dial.), a large proportion (of).

O. E. Chron., an. 1052. Harold … ofsloh mycelne ende þes folces.

c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Trin.), 14478. [The Jews] souȝten him to slone And moost ende for þat resoun Þat he vp reised lazaroun.

c. 1400–40[?].  How a Merchande, etc. 106, in E. P. P. (Hazl.), I. 201. To speke wyth none ende of my kynne.

1623.  Lisle, Ælfric on O. & N. T., 18. He [Ieremias] was oft in bands and cast into prison for his holy doctrine, and bore most an end the peoples sinnes.

1676.  Hale, Contempl., I. 58. The credit of the Relator, which most an end depends upon another’s credit.

1739.  R. Bull, trans. Dedekindus’ Grobianus, 122. Tipplers most an end are roaring Boys.

1869.  R. B. Peacock, Lonsdale Gloss. s.v., It cost me a girt end of a pound. Ibid., Most on End … used adverbially: continually, unremittingly.

Mod. Derbysh., It cost me a good end of ten pounds. I have been waiting a good end of an hour.

  6.  in various technical uses. a. Coal-mining. The furthest part of a gallery or working. End of coal (see quot. 1881).

1865.  Morning Star, 7 Jan. The men are of course usually at work in the ‘ends.’

1878.  Huxley, Physiogr., 238. This direction is sometimes called the ‘end’ of the coal.

1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., End of coal, the direction or section at right-angles to the face; sometimes called the butt.

  b.  Naut. Cable’s end, or simply end: the last length of a cable. Rope’s end: a short length of rope bound at the ends with thread, used as an instrument of punishment. Bitter end (see BITTER).

1663.  Pepys, Diary, 23 June. I beat him, and then went up in to fetch my rope’s end.

1801.  Sir H. Parker, Lett., 6 April, in Duncan, Nelson (1806), 140. They [ships] were riding with two cables end.

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Rope’s end. The termination of a fall, and should be pointed or whipped. Formerly much used for illegal punishment.

1882.  Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 145. Have plenty of end in the bows ready to make fast.

  c.  A shoemaker’s end: a length of thread armed or pointed with a bristle; = WAX-END. To pack up one’s ends and awls (Sc.): i.e., all one’s effects.

1598.  Florio, Lesina, a shooe-makers ende or awle.

1656.  H. More, Antid. Ath., II. xi. (1712), 74. Two strings like two shoe-makers ends come from the hinder parts of the male.

1713.  Swift, Elegy on Partridge, Wks. 1755, III. II. 82. Ariadne kindly lends Her braided hair to make thee ends.

a. 1745.  Meston, Poems (1767), 98. Laden with tackle of his stall, Last, ends, and hammer, strap, and awl.

1798.  Wolcott (P. Pindar), Tales Hoy, Wks. 1812, IV. 389. Crispin too forgets his End and Awl.

1823.  Galt, R. Gilhaize, I. xxv. 271. They arrived at Edinburgh, and constrained the Queen Regent … to pack up her ends and awls.

  d.  Spinning and Weaving. (a.) Card-end: a sliver or carding. (b.) A worsted yarn in a Brussels carpet.

1875.  Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 978. For spinning coarse numbers … six card-ends are usually converted into one riband.

  II.  With reference to time or serial order.

  7.  The limit of duration, or close, of a period of time; the termination, conclusion, of an action, process, continuous state, or course of events; the terminal point of a series; the conclusion of a discourse, book, chapter, etc.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. x. 22. Soðlice se þurh wunað oð ende, se byð hal.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 4356. Forr seffne daȝhess brinngenn aȝȝ þe wuke till hiss ende.

c. 1230.  Hali Meid., 17. Blisse þat cumeð … withuten ani ende.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 4236. Es noght his murning mai amend I wen bifor his liues ende. Ibid., 26595. If þou þis bok will se till end.

1340.  Ayenb., 262. Þis boc is ycome to þe ende.

a. 1400–50.  Alexander, 880. Philip … lofes hire [Olympias] lely to his lyfes ende.

1535.  Coverdale, 1 Cor. xv. 24. Then the ende, whan he shal delyuer vp the kyngdome vnto God the father.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 22. Robert had heard this message unto the ende.

1709.  Addison, Tatler, No. 24, ¶ 3. This Felicity attending him to his Life’s End.

1803.  R. Anderson, Cumbld. Ball., Calep Crosby. Frae week en to week en.

1862.  Stanley, Jew. Ch. (1877), I. x. 198. The passage of the Jordan was not the end, but the beginning of a long conflict.

1876.  Trevelyan, Macaulay, I. i. 13. He worked unceasingly … from year’s end to year’s end.

  b.  The latter or concluding part (of a period, action, etc.).

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., II. xx. (1495), 47. In the ende of the worlde the deuyll shall be … moche the more feruent to woodnesse.

a. 1200.  Moral Ode, in E. E. P., 26. Ac ȝif þe ende is euel, al it is uuel.

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., I. iii. 82. The Ewes In end of Autumne turned to the Rammes.

a. 1744.  Broome, Epic Poetry, in Pope’s Odyss. (1760), xxii.–xxiii. (J.). The Causes and Designs of an Action are the Beginning;… the Difficulties that are met with … are the Middle; and the Unravelling and Resolution of these difficulties are the End.

1847.  Mrs. A. Kerr, trans. Ranke’s Hist. Servia, 170. Kara George … towards the end of the summer of 1806, approached the eastern frontier.

  8.  Termination of existence; destruction, abolition. (The early examples of end of the world should perhaps be referred to 7, as world may have been taken in its older temporal sense; cf. however Fr. fin du monde.).

832.  Charter, in Sweet, O. E. T., 447. ðet he ðas god forðleste oð wiaralde ende.

c. 1340.  Cursor M., 22390 (Edinb.). His dome þate him sale driue til ende.

1662.  Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., III. i. § 8. 377. The world may have an end before he proves his Atoms could give it a beginning.

1690.  Locke, Govt., I. xi. § 126. 162 (J.). There would be an end of all Civil Government, if the Assignment of Civil Power were by Divine Institution to the Heir.

  b.  The death (of a person); a mode or manner of death.

c. 1305.  Edmund Conf., 590, in South-Eng. Leg. (1887), 448. Þe more is bodi ipined was: þe ner he was þen ende.

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., C. 426. Bed me bilyue my bale stour, & bryng me on ende.

c. 1340.  Cursor M., 3905 (Trin.). Rachel bare … beniamyn Þat was þe cause of hir ende.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 1438. Ffele folke forfaren with a ffeble ende.

a. 1440.  Sir Eglam., 756. The dragon hath tan hys ȝynde.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 650. This ende had the valiant Lorde, Richard Plantagenet Duke of Yorke.

1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., III. ii. 44. Then if he loose he makes a Swan-like end, Fading in musique.

1667.  Pepys, Diary (1879), IV. 338. Great talk of the good end that my Lord Treasurer made.

1732.  Pope, Epit. Gay. Unblam’d through life; lamented in thy end.

1807.  Crabbe, Par. Reg., III. 38. Call then a priest and fit him for his end.

1879.  Froude, Cæsar, vi. 52. To be murdered was the usual end of exceptionally distinguished Romans.

  † c.  In phrase to be the end of (cf. to be the death of).

1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., II. i. 15. Lest … the … King of Kings award Either of you to be the others end. Ibid. (1597), 2 Hen. IV., IV. iv. 130. This Apoplexie will (certaine) be his end.

  9.  Ultimate state or condition. Chiefly in Bible phrases, in which, however, end is often misinterpreted in sense 8 b.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter xxxviii. [xxxix.] 5. Cuð me doa dryhten ende minne.

1611.  Bible, Ps. xxxvii. 37. Marke the perfect man, and behold the vpright: for the end of that man is peace.

  10.  Latter († last) end: variously used in senses 7 b, 8 b, 9. Also Sc. hinder end.

1382.  Wyclif, Ecclus. i. 13. Wel shal be in the laste endys.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 158. The latter ende of this moneth of July … the Legate … tooke his leave of the king.

1601.  Shaks., All’s Well, II. v. 30. A good Trauailer is something at the latter end of a dinner.

1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 193. The middle or latter end of this month.

1670.  Cotton, Espernon, I. II. 57. Towards the Dukes latter end, I read this History to him.

  † 11.  A termination of doubt or debate; a resolution, device, expedient; an agreement, settlement. Obs.

1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 169. To London vorte wende, To nyme þer ys conseyl, wuch were best ȝende.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Man of Law’s T., 168. Wel sche saugh ther nas non other ende.

c. 1460.  Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714), 66. Unto the time his said Kyng had made such End, with him, his Adherents, and Fautours, as he desired.

1489.  Plumpton Corr., 82. The dayes men cannot agre us, so Mr. Mydleton to make the end.

1542–3.  Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII., c. 27 § 100. Parties, to whome any such offence shall hap to be committed, shall in nowise take any ende or agreement with the offenders.

  † 12.  The completion of an action; the accomplishment of a purpose: chiefly in phrases, To have, make, take, bring to, be at (an) end. Also, the acme, utmost reach. Obs.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 10127. Prophecies com al to end. Ibid., 25862. Þat þou mai noght do to end. Ibid., 27783. For drede þat he may noght mak end. Ibid. (c. 1340), 8580. Al þat his fader be-gynne muȝt salamon til hende hit broȝt.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, IV. 660. Feill anoyis thoill ȝhe sall, Or that ȝour purposs ende haf tane.

c. 1440.  Boetus, Laud MS. 559. 10. Withouten hym may hit nought To an eande our purpose be brought.

c. 1590.  Marlowe, Massacre Paris, I. ii. 142. To bring the will of our desires to end.

1632.  Massinger, Maid of Hon., I. i. To eat and sleep supinely is the end Of human blessings.

1679.  Burnet, Hist. Ref., Ep. Ded. 3. To have been at the end of their designs.

  13.  Event, issue, result.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1774, Lucrece. What ende that I make, it shal be so!

c. 1400.  Apol. Loll., 28. Onli in name, & as to ȝend & effect is nowȝt.

1483.  Cath. Angl., 114. An Ende, exitus.

1559.  Myrr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk, xix. But note the ende.

1581.  Savile, Tacitus’ Hist., III. xix. (1591), 125. The ende went on his side.

1633.  Heywood, Eng. Trav., IV. Wks. 1874, IV. 73. The end still crownes the deede.

1641.  J. Jackson, True Evang. T., II. 160. It is the end that crownes the worke.

1878.  B. Taylor, Deukalion, I. vi. 50. The end shall crown us: The Gods are just.

  † b.  To have its end(s) upon: to have influence upon. Obs.

1638.  Chillingw., Relig. Prot., I. ii. § 49. 71. The Authority of one holy man, which apparently has no ends upon me.

1736.  Butler, Anal., II. viii. 284. Religion, considered as a Probation has had its End upon all Persons, to whom [etc.].

  14.  An intended result of an action; an aim, purpose. (Cf. L. finis.) To accomplish, answer, fulfil, gain, † make, serve one’s end(s: see those verbs.

c. 1305.  Edmund Conf., in E. E. P. (1862), 72. Hit schal ȝut likie wel bi þan ȝe wite þan ende.

1581.  Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (Arb.), 30. The Sadlers next end is to make a good saddle.

a. 1628.  Preston, New Covt. (1629), 232. A right end never hath a crooked rule leading to it.

1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 184. They study … not to make their ends on any mans weaknesse.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe (ed. 3), I. 174. This answer’d my End.

1735.  Berkeley, Free-think. in Math., § 6, Wks. 1871, III. 304. I have no end to serve but truth.

1759.  Robertson, Hist. Scot., I. III. 260. She had fully gained her end.

1832.  Ht. Martineau, Life in Wilds, vii. 88. I am rather afraid of our people mistaking the means for the end.

1851.  D. Jerrold, St. Giles, x. 102. Mr. Capstick was delighted, in his own way, that the ends of justice would be satisfied.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 323. They may fairly use a little violence in order to accomplish their end.

  b.  In phrases, For or to this (that, what, which) end, to no end. Also in conjunctional phrase, To the end (that); formerly also, † To the end to (with inf.).

  Now somewhat archaic or rhetorical; the ordinary phrase is in order (that or to).

138[?].  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 354. Han power of him to þise ende.

c. 1400.  Maundev., v. 51. Ȝee schulle knowe and preve, to the ende that ȝee schulle not ben disceyved.

1474.  Caxton, Chesse, IV. ii. (1860), K iiij b. The faders had dyuerse wyues … to thende whan one was [with] childe, they myght take another.

1558.  Warde, trans. Alexis’ Secr. (1568), 64 a. To thende they may al equally receive of the honnye.

1605.  Bacon, Adv. Learn., I. ii. § 9. C 4. To the end to peruse the Greeke Authors.

1634.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 28. To which end, King Abbas, sends his Ambassadour to Constantinople.

1684.  Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 70. I am come forth to withstand them, and to that end will back the Lions.

1692.  Bp. Ely, Answ. Touchstone, 187. It is to no end to look what St. Austin saith.

1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 305, ¶ 12. To the End that they may be perfect also in this Practice.

1728.  Sheridan, Persius, III. (1739), 47. Study … for what end ye were created.

1769.  Robertson, Chas. V., V. II. 244. For this end he summoned Luther to appear at Rome.

1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 170. For these ends, and for these ends alone, he wished to obtain arbitrary power.

  c.  Sc. End’s errand: the special design.

1821.  Galt, Sir A. Wylie, II. 158. Did they say nothing of the end’s errand they had come upon?

  15.  A final cause; the object for which a thing exists; the purpose for which it is designed or instituted.

1534.  Whitinton, Tullyes Offices, I. (1540), 4. Suche offyces … pertayne to the ende of felycitie.

1587.  Golding, De Mornay, xvi. 299. And as man is the end of the World, so is GOD the end of Man.

1648.  Shorter Catech., Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever.

1722.  Wollaston, Relig. Nat., vii. (1738), 147. The end of society is the common welfare and good of the people associated.

1776.  Gibbon, Decl. & F., I. xxiv. 702. I have considered the happiness of the people as the end of government.

1869.  Ruskin, Q. of Air, § 60. The flower is the end or proper object of the seed.

a. 1876.  J. H. Newman, Hist. Sk., I. IV. ii. 375. The highest end of Church union … is quiet and unanimity.

  III.  Idiomatic phrases.

  16.  With various prepositions forming advb. phrases.

  a.  At the end (ME. at þen, atten ende), † at end: at last. † b. For (an) end: in conclusion, finally, ‘to cut the matter short.’ c. In the end, † in end: ultimately, in the long run. † d. To an end: consecutively, through the whole period specified.

  a.  c. 1300.  Beket, 81. Attan ende bi cas; Tho heo com aȝe thulke hous ther this Gilbert was.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 14879 (Gött.). Þai at end him did on rod.

1340.  Ayenb., 128. Atenende þe zeneȝere … is ase þe ilke þet slepþ amide þe ze.

c. 1320.  Sir Tristr., 407. Or þyng þat is him dere Ich man preise at ende. Ibid., 3287. Þai hadde woundes ille At þe nende.

1632.  Lithgow, Totall Discourse, 127. In end … the slaves … runne the Galley a shoare.

1872.  Browning, Hervé Riel. My friend, I must speak out at the end, Though I find the speaking hard.

  b.  1570–6.  Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 221. For an end therefore I tel you, [etc.].

1576.  Fleming, Panoplie Ep., 10. For ende, he counselleth Curio to take charge of the common wealth.

1607.  Shaks., Cor., II. i. 260. For an end, we must [etc.].

  c.  c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter ix. 19. Nales in ende oferȝeotulnis bið ðearfena.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 165. But in the end the losse fell to the Englishmen.

1828–40.  Tytler, Hist. Scot. (1864), I. 25. His [Edward I.’s] power and influence would in the end induce the different parties to appeal to him.

1885.  Manch. Exam., 13 July, 5/5. The match in the end was very narrowly won by Harrow.

  d.  1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus. (1877), 50. Neuer content with one colour or fashion two dayes to an ende.

1657.  Serjeant, Schism Dispach’t, 478. Would any government … remain on foot three years to an end, if, [etc.].

1717.  J. Fox, Wanderer, 160. Octavius … told him he should not live another Hour to an End.

  17.  On end (see also AN-END): † a. at last; b. consecutively, without intermission; † c. on (one’s) way, forward, along; (whence To come on end, to come forward; (ME.) To set spell or tale on end, to begin a discourse); d. in an upright position, resting on (its) end.

  a.  c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 25. Al swa he doð swa þe swica þe bi-swiked hine seolfe on-ende.

c. 1320.  Cast. Love, 1064. Þat foreward on ende wel was i-holde.

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 186. I drede on ende quat schulde byfalle.

  b.  1634.  Rutherford, Lett., No. 32 (1862), I. 111. And was brought, thrice on end, in remembrance of you in my prayer to God.

1836.  in Byron’s Wks. (1846), 552/1. The ministerial prints raved for two months on end.

1882.  Besant, All Sorts, vii. Working sixteen hours on end at twopence an hour.

  c.  c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Trin.), 1295. Seeth set tale on ende [Cott. spell o-nend] And tolde whi he was sende.

1621.  Sanderson, Serm., I. 188. These would be soundly spurred up, and whipped on end. Ibid. (1630), II. 266. Others will not come on end chearfully.

  d.  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 25049. Þe cros … quen it es sett on end vp euen, It takens pes tuix erth and heuen.

1598.  Grenewey, Tacitus’ Descr. Germany, vi. (1612), 269. The Sueuians … haue their haire standing an end.

1784.  Cowper, Task, IV. 86. Katerfelto, with his hair on end At his own wonders.

1836.  Random Recoll. Ho. Lords, xvi. 383. His dark hair … stands on end on the fore part of his head.

1839.  W. Irving, Wolfert’s R. (1855), 143. A great hotel in Paris is a street set on end.

  18.  Without end (ME. buten ende): endlessly, for ever; also in adjectival sense, endless. World without end: used as transl. late L. in secula seculorum, ‘for ever and ever’; also attrib.

a. 1000.  Boeth. Metr., xxi. 44. Þæt micle leoht … is … Ece butan ende.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 409. Rihhtwise menn … shulenn þabbenn … A butenn ende blisse inoh.

c. 1320.  Sir Tristr., 2417. He ȝaf to blauncheflour Wales wiþ outen end Bidene.

138[?].  Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 24. Helle wiþ-outen hende.

1450–1530.  Myrr. Our Ladye, 326. The vyrgyn mary … rayneth with cryste without enden.

1549.  Bk. Com. Prayer, Gloria Patri, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be: world without end.

1577.  St. Aug. Manual, 23. Pleasaunt tunes … are song to thy glory … without all end.

1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 799. A time me thinkes too short, To make a world-without-end bargaine in.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 67. Torture without end Still urges.

  19.  † a. End for end: (Naut., of a cable) paid out to the full length (obs.). b. To shift, turn end for end: to put each end of (a thing) where the other was; chiefly Naut., to reverse (a rope), to upset (a boat). To go end for end: (of a boat) to be upset. Also in same sense, End over end. c. End to end: with the ends in contact, lengthwise.

  a.  1627.  Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., vii. 30. And end for end is when the Cable runneth cleere out of the Hawse, or any Rope out of his shiuer.

1769.  Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), Filer le cable bout par bout, to veer away the cable to the end, to veer out the cable end-for-end.

  b.  a. 1734.  North, Exam., II. v. § 2 (1740), 316. We must turn our Style End for End.

1758.  in Phil. Trans., LVIII. 284. The axis of the telescope was turned end for end; that is, the telescope … was turned upside down.

1804.  A. Duncan, Mariner’s Chron., I. 224. A heavy sea striking the afterpart, it [the boat] went end for end over.

1805.  W. Hunter, in Naval Chron., XIII. 23. It would turn the Cutter end-over-end.

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., To shift a rope end for end, as in a tackle, the fall is made the standing part, and the standing part becomes the fall.

1870.  Lowell, Study Wind., 201. He turns commonplaces end for end.

1875.  Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket-bk., § 6 (ed. 2), 219. The boat will be thrown … end over end.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., II. § 1. 228. It has been found that 39,000 waves of red light placed end to end would make up an inch.

  20.  a. End on: placed so as to present the end directly towards the eye, or towards any object; opposed to broadside on. Also attrib. Chiefly Naut.

1832.  Marryat, N. Forster, III. x. 156. She then offered, being nearly ‘end on.’

1834.  Mrs. Somerville, Connex. Phys. Sc., xxxiv. (1849), 373. A single pole end-on is sufficient.

1836.  E. Howard, R. Reefer, xli. From the end-on view we had of her, we could not count her ports.

1866.  R. M. Ballantyne, Shifting Winds, iv. (1881), 31. The lifeboat met the next breaker end-on.

1880.  Mac Cormac, Antisept. Surg., 229. The accident was caused by a scaffold plank of wood … falling end-on upon the man’s head.

  b.  End up: with the end uppermost.

  21.  No end: (colloq.) a vast quantity or number (of). Also (mod. slang) as adv., = ‘immensely,’ ‘to any extent’; and (with of) qualifying a predicate. Cf. 1 b.

1623.  Bingham, Xenophon, 143. You … made no end of promises.

1856.  Reade, Never too late, x. Box at the opera costs no end.

1859.  Farrar, Eric, 55. You are no end cleverer and stronger.

1866.  Trollope, Belton Est., III. v. 121. And what comfort have I in a big house, and no end of gardens, and a place like this?

1872.  E. Peacock, Mabel Heron, I. i. 9. You will have no end of trouble.

18[?].  Besant, All in Garden Fair, viii. Keats was no end of a fellow.

Mod.  I consider him no end of a humbug.

  22.  With verbs. (See also 12–14.) a. To be at an end: (of resources, etc.) to be exhausted; (of periods of time) to be completed; (of an action or state) to terminate. In corresponding senses, To bring, come to an end. b. To be at the end of (one’s resources, etc.): to have no more to spend; To be at one’s wits’ end: to be utterly at a loss, to be quite perplexed. c. To put an end to, † to set end of: to terminate, put a stop to, abolish. d. To have, take an end: to be terminated, concluded. e. To make an end: to conclude, finish (absol.); also const. of, with.

  a.  c. 1340.  Cursor M., 22263 (Edinb.). His rigning es brote til ende.

14[?].  in Tundale’s Vis. (1843), 155. Then schulde oure trobul be at a nende.

c. 1590.  Marlowe, Dido, V. i. 1409. Our travels are at end.

1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 430. Speake for your selues, my wit is at an end.

1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 186. A Gard’ner’s work is never at an end.

1711.  Steele, Spect., No. 284, ¶ 2. Their affairs will be at an end.

1852.  Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., II. xxxvii. 235. Will these years and years of misery come to an end?—shall we be free?

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 49. This part of the festival was nearly at an end.

1877.  Morley, Carlyle, Crit. Misc., Ser. I. (1878), 198. Imposture must come to an end.

  b.  1555.  Eden, Decades W. Ind., III. I. (Arb.), 140. They were at theyr wyttes endes whither to turne them.

1655.  W. F., Meteors, III. 68. It would make men … to be at their Wits End if they were not accustomed to such Tumultuous Tempests.

1712.  Arbuthnot, John Bull (1755), 33. He is at an end of all his cash.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 280. I am simply getting bewitched and enchanted, and am at my wits’ end.

  c.  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 25870. Þar has þi schrift sett end o pyne.

1647.  Clarendon, Hist. Reb. (1702), I. 12. Put a Quick end to this Treaty.

1681–6.  J. Scott, Chr. Life (1747), III. 471. The Day of Judgment … shall … put an End to all their Mischiefs for ever.

1792.  Anecd. W. Pitt, III. xlii. 150. If an end is not put to this war there is an end to this country.

  d.  c. 1590.  Marlowe, Edw. II., II. iv. 1137 (1594), E 4 b. My sorrowes will haue end.

1605.  Verstegan, Dec. Intell., i. (1628), 5. This so great a worke now ceased and tooke an end.

  e.  c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., II. ii. § 1. Biddende þæt hie … þæs ʓewinnes sumne ende ʓedyden.

1570–6.  Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 241. To make an end, heere was sometime a religious College.

1611.  Bible, Ezra x. 17. And they made an ende, with all the men that had taken strange wiues.

Mod.  The government has resolved to make an end of the insurgents.

  23.  Elliptically. And there (so) an end: = ‘this is, shall be, an end.’ Obs. or arch.

[1382.  Wyclif, 1 Cor. xv. 24. Aftirward an ende, whanne, [etc.].]

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., I. iii. 65. What I will, I will, and there an end.

1608.  S. Collins, Serm., 51. Which I will speak a word or twain unto, and so an end.

1615.  Jn. Day, Festivals, 340. As for his Carkasse, a Coffin shall cover it, and there an ende of our great Purchaser.

  24.  Proverbial phrases: To begin at the wrong end. † Not to care which end goes forward: to be negligent. † To get by the end: to get command of, so as to have ready for use. To get the better end of: to get the advantage of. To have the better, or worse, end of the staff, ‘to get the best, or worst, of it.’ To have at one’s fingers’ or tongue’s end: to know by heart, be able to quote with readiness. † At the hinder end of the bargain: when accounts are settled, fig. To be at an idle end, to be unoccupied; (to live) at a loose end, with no fixed occupation. † To live at stave’s end, ? to be unsociable, keep every one at a distance. To make both, two ends, the two ends of the year, meet: to live within one’s income [cf. Fr. joindre les deux bouts, les deux bouts de l’an]. To come to the end of one’s tether: to do all that one has ability, or liberty to do.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 29. Men of þat side schal haue the worse ende.

1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 34. I liue here at staues end.

1573.  G. Harvey, Letter-bk. (1884), 3. Thai that have the wors end of the staf shal be sure to be wrung to the wors.

1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., V. i. 81. Thou hast it … at the fingers ends, as they say.

1608.  Withals, Dict., 86. Negligently, as caring not what ende goes forward.

1638.  Sanderson, Serm., II. 97. We have rather cheated the devil, than he us; and have gotten the better end of him.

1662.  Fuller, Worthies, Cumberl., 219 (D.). Worldly wealth he cared not for, desiring only to make both ends meet.

c. 1680.  Beveridge, Serm. (1729), I. 55. Getting a scripture-word by the end.

1690.  B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Ends … Tis good to make both ends meet.

1722.  De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 124. The devil will have you at the hinder end of the bargain.

1736.  Bailey, To have the better end of the Staff.

1742.  Richardson, Pamela, III. 178. Your Lordship has got a Word by the End, that you seem mighty fond of.

1748.  Smollett, Rod. Rand., x. He made shift to make the two ends of the year meet.

1865.  Pall Mall Gaz., 22 April, 1/2. And living completely at a loose end.

1876.  Miss Broughton, Joan, III. II. iii. 103. By five and thirty the best of us has pretty well come to the end of her tether! Ibid., iv. 131. Anthony struggling to make two ends meet!

1878.  Huxley, Physiogr., Pref. p. vi. Most of the elementary works I have seen, begin at the wrong end.

1882.  T. Mozley, Remin. Oriel College (ed. 2), 183. He might sometimes seem to be at an idle end.

1884.  Illust. Lond. News, 11 Oct., 338/3. She … had Shakespeare and Milton at her tongue’s end.

1884.  Graphic, 23 Aug., 198/2. Her mother has to contrive to make both ends meet.

  IV.  25. Comb., chiefly attrib. with sense ‘placed at the end’ or ‘last used’; as end-brush, -bud, -handkerchief, -loop, -man, -parlo(u)r, -shoot, -wall, -wheel; also end-board (see quot.); end-bulb (see quot.); end-game (at chess), (see quot.); end-fast a., fixed on end, standing upright; end-gatherer, a collector of refuse wool; end-grain (attrib.) (of wood) placed with the end of the grain turned outwards; † end-hand, the hand nearest to the end of anything; end-hooping, the hoop that binds the end of a vessel; end-iron, a movable plate in a kitchen range that serves to enlarge or contract the grate; † end-land, ? a frontier region; end-making, conclusion, settlement; end-organ (see quot.); end-piece (see quot.); end-plate, the extreme fibers of a muscle or nerve; end-rib (see quot.); end-shake, a freedom of motion in a spindle at its end; † end-sith [OE. síð fate], death-fate; end-speech, a speech tacked on at the end, an epilogue; end-stone, one of the plates of a watch-jewel supporting a pivot; end-stopping, (of blank verse) a division of the lines, such that they end with a pause or stop; so end-stopped ppl. a.; end-wool, refuse wool.

c. 1860.  H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 70. What are the *‘end boards’? They are boards which cover and form the ends of the meetings.

1710.  London & Wise, Compl. Gard. (1719), 152. The same course of pinching off *End-Buds is very profitable in Summer also.

1879.  Calderwood, Mind & Br., iii. 42. This terminal expansion [of a nerve] is known as an *end-bulb, or touch organ.

1535.  Stewart, Cron. Scot. (1858), I. 282. Neir by the boundis of Brigantia thair stude Ane *end fast stane.

1884.  Horwitz, in Academy, 12 April, 256/1. The real *end game consists of a position where the method can be analytically demonstrated by which the slightly superior force can win.

1764.  Burn, Poor Laws, 53. All *end-gatherers offending against an act of the 13 Geo. c. 23 … shall be deemed incorrigible rogues.

1882.  Worc. Exhib. Catal., iii. 41. The flooring is laid in *end-grain sections of pine.

1884.  Health Exhib. Catal. (ed. 2), 90/2. End-grain wood pavements, &c.

1677.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 17. You must dip your Handle-hand, and mount your *end-hand a little.

1753.  Scots Mag., Feb., 100/2. The *end-handkerchiefs would sell as well as the other ten.

1712.  J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 90. Fixing the two *End Loops upon the Stakes A and C.

a. 1796.  Burns, ed. Merry Muses (1827), 25 (Jam.). She sprung an *end hoopin’.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 17916. Nohht ferr þær inn an *endeland Þatt wass Ennon ȝehatenn.

c. 1490.  Plumpton Corr., 82. Beseching your sayd mastership … to be at the *end-making.

1884.  Sat. Rev., 7 June, 740/1. At the ends are Bones and Tambo, the *‘end-men.’

1878.  Bell, trans. Gegenbaur’s Comp. Anat., 42. Sensory organs are the *end-organs of the sensitive nerves.

1824.  Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1858), 228. There is one little *end-parlour, an after-thought of the original builder.

1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., Wall-plates, the two-side pieces of a timber frame in a shaft…. The other two pieces are the *end-pieces.

1878.  M. Foster, Physiol., III. i. 393. Between the lingual fibres and the *end-plates of the glossal muscular fibres.

1884.  Syd. Soc. Lex., End-plate, motorial, the branched, expanded, termination of a nerve fibre or one of its branches on a muscular fibre.

1852.  Seidel, Organ, 37. Between the upper and under-board there are six boards, viz., two … called *end-ribs.

1881.  Hasluck, Lathe-Work, 169. The face of the pulley … forms the bearing to prevent the *endshake.

1858.  Glenny, Gard. Every-day Bk., 89/1. Nearly all the *end-shoots may be safely taken away, for they take up the strength of the plant.

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3777. Alle he [Korah, etc.] sunken ðe erðe wiðin … Swilc *endesið vn-biwen hauen.

1884.  F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm. (1892), 129. In most English watches all the escapement pivots run on *end stones.

1881.  Athenæum, 23 April, 557/2. Mr. Rhoades’s blank verse … is distinguished … by a frequent tendency to *end-stopping.

1877.  Dowden, Shaks. Prim., iv. 39. At first … the verse is *‘end-stopt.’

1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 229. The Flue, Shaft, Fire, and Ash-hole to be without, though joining close to the *End-wall.

1848.  App. to Report Dep. Keeper Public Records, IX. 111. The cleft wool to be kept by itself and the *endwool by itself.