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bitter end

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Music By Bitter End
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bit⋅ter end

  [bit-er end for 1; bit-er end for 2]
Use bitter end in a Sentence
–noun
1. the conclusion of a difficult or unpleasant situation; the last or furthest extremity: Despite the unpleasant scenes in the movie, she insisted on staying until the bitter end.
2. Nautical.
a. the inboard end of an anchor chain or cable, secured in the chain locker of a vessel.
b. the end of any chain or cable.
Origin:
1620–30 in form bitters end; prob. bitt + er1 , later taken as bitter
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Music By Bitter End
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bitter end  
n.  

  1. A final, painful, or disastrous extremity.

  2. Nautical The inboard end of a chain, rope, or cable, especially the end of a rope or cable that is wound around a bitt.


[English bitter, bitt (bitt + -er1) + end. Sense 1, influenced by bitter.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

bitter end

The last extremity; also, death or ruin. For example, I'm supporting the union's demands to the bitter end, or Even though they fight a lot, I'm sure Mom and Dad will stay together to the bitter end. The source of this term may have been nautical, a bitter being a turn of a cable around posts, or bitts, on a ship's deck, and the bitter end meaning "the part of the cable that stays inboard." Thus, when a rope is paid out to the bitter end, no more remains. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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