Meaning of end In English

• 0 the part of a place or thing that is furthest away from the centre:

  • This cable should have a plug at one end and a socket at the other.

  • We damaged the end of the piano when we moved it.

  • Get to the end of the queue and wait your turn like everyone else.

  • Our house is the third from the end on the left.

  • Is it safe to stand the computer on (its) end?

  • I always like to leave my desk clear at the end of the day.

  • The end of the play was much more exciting than I'd expected.

  • This latest injury must surely mean that her tennis career is now at an end (= finished).

  • The statement said there would be no end to the violence until the terrorists' demands were met.

  • We were all by her bedside when the end finally came.

  • He met his end (= died) in a shoot-out with the police.

  • The teams change ends at half-time so that neither side has an unfair advantage.

  • Having agreed upon the matter of payment, he brought the interview to an end.

  • We were thinking about going to Switzerland, but in the end we went to Austria.

  • He used to lock himself in his bedroom for hours on end and refuse to talk to anyone.

  • Everyone wishes the war would come to an end soon.

• 1 a small part of something that is left after most of it has been used:

  • She makes quilts out of fabric bolt ends.

  • UK The floor was covered in cigarette ends.

• 2 an aim, intention, or purpose:

  • Do you have a particular end in mind?

  • He wanted science students to take an interest in the arts, and to this end he ran literature classes at his home on Sunday afternoons.

• 3 the parts of a task or process connected with one particular type of activity or person:

  • Rick's more involved with the financial end of things.

  • We've kept our end of the deal - let's see if they keep theirs.

• 4 to finish or stop, or to make something finish or stop:

  • When is your meeting due to end?

  • Her resignation ends months of speculation about her future.

  • Their marriage ended in 1991.

  • The game ended in a draw.

  • I'd like to end with a song from my first album.

  • She ended her speech on an optimistic note.

• 5 the last or farthest part of something or of a period of time, beyond which it does not exist:

  • She tied one end of the rope to a tree.

  • The punctuation at the end of this sentence is a period.

  • Did you stay to the end of the movie?

  • Steve can swim to the far end of the lake and back.

  • His career was at an end.

  • The new cars were lined up end to end.

• 6 a specific part or division of an activity:

  • She takes care of the financial end of the business and I handle the marketing end.

• 7 something that your actions or efforts are intended to achieve; an aim:

  • To accomplish that end, you will have to work hard and be lucky, too.

• 8 (in football) one of two players who begin play farthest from the ball:

  • a defensive end

• 9 to finish or stop, or to make something finish or stop:

  • [ I ] Our arguments always end in tears.

  • [ T ] She ended her speech on an optimistic note.

• 10 the time or place that something finishes:

  • The construction will be completed by the end of the year.

  • Sales are looking good according to the end-of-month report.

  • We spent a long time looking for a good supplier, but we found one in the end.

  • There are encouraging signs that the recession has come to an end.

  • The difficult period we've been through now seems to be at an end.

  • There is no end to the possible markets for this product.

  • The meeting room is at the end of the corridor on the right.

• 11 used when stating whether goods or services are expensive or cheap, or of high or low quality:

  • the bottom/low/top end of the market This basic laptop is aimed at the low end of the market.

• 12 an aim or purpose:

  • We aim to halve production costs, and to this end we are investing in automating the process.

  • We see good design not just as a means of increasing profits, but as an end in itself.

• 13 the parts of a task or process connected with one particular type of activity, or with a particular person:

  • Rick's more involved with the financial end of things.

  • Everything's ready here, but how are thing's your end?

  • sb's end of the bargain/deal We kept our end of the bargain, but they failed to meet their deadline.

• 14 to finish or stop, or to make something finish or stop:

  • What time is your meeting due to end?

  • Her resignation ends months of speculation about her future.

  • Our contract with those suppliers ended in April.

  • end in sth The negotiations ended in failure after three days.

  • end (sth) with sth I'd like to end my presentation with a little story...