"bitter end" meaning in English

See bitter end in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-bitter end.ogg [Australia] Forms: bitter ends [plural]
Etymology: The figurative usage is influenced by bitter (“unpleasant, arduous”). Etymology templates: {{m|en|bitter||unpleasant, arduous}} bitter (“unpleasant, arduous”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} bitter end (plural bitter ends)
  1. (nautical) That part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor. Categories (topical): Nautical Translations (that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor): étalingure (French), коренно́й коне́ц (korennój) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-bitter_end-en-noun-7u65OmXB Topics: nautical, transport Disambiguation of 'that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor': 91 5 4
  2. (nautical) The final six fathoms of anchor chain before the point of attachment in the chain locker of modern US naval vessels. Categories (topical): Nautical
    Sense id: en-bitter_end-en-noun-SC9IuhNO Topics: nautical, transport
  3. (idiomatic) The end of a long and difficult process. Tags: idiomatic Derived forms: bitter-ender Related terms: bitts, last gasp, the end of one's rope, until the bitter end, to the bitter end, to the bitter end and beyond Translations (the end of a long and difficult process): katkera loppu (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-bitter_end-en-noun-CuTXjfet Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 31 28 41 Disambiguation of 'the end of a long and difficult process': 4 3 93

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for bitter end meaning in English (3.5kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "bitter",
        "3": "",
        "4": "unpleasant, arduous"
      },
      "expansion": "bitter (“unpleasant, arduous”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The figurative usage is influenced by bitter (“unpleasant, arduous”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bitter ends",
      "tags": [
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bitter end (plural bitter ends)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Nautical",
          "orig": "en:Nautical",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "pay out a rope to the bitter end (pay out all of the rope)"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor."
      ],
      "id": "en-bitter_end-en-noun-7u65OmXB",
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "anchor",
          "anchor"
        ],
        [
          "cable",
          "cable"
        ],
        [
          "abaft",
          "abaft"
        ],
        [
          "bitts",
          "bitts"
        ],
        [
          "inboard",
          "inboard"
        ],
        [
          "ship",
          "ship"
        ],
        [
          "riding",
          "riding"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) That part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "91 5 4",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor",
          "word": "étalingure"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "91 5 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "korennój",
          "sense": "that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor",
          "word": "коренно́й коне́ц"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
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          "kind": "topical",
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          "parents": [
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The final six fathoms of anchor chain before the point of attachment in the chain locker of modern US naval vessels."
      ],
      "id": "en-bitter_end-en-noun-SC9IuhNO",
      "links": [
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) The final six fathoms of anchor chain before the point of attachment in the chain locker of modern US naval vessels."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "7 0 93",
          "word": "bitter-ender"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The end of a long and difficult process."
      ],
      "id": "en-bitter_end-en-noun-CuTXjfet",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) The end of a long and difficult process."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "7 0 93",
          "word": "bitts"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 0 93",
          "word": "last gasp"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 0 93",
          "word": "the end of one's rope"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 0 93",
          "word": "until the bitter end"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 0 93",
          "word": "to the bitter end"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 0 93",
          "word": "to the bitter end and beyond"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 3 93",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "the end of a long and difficult process",
          "word": "katkera loppu"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "en-au-bitter end.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/42/En-au-bitter_end.ogg/En-au-bitter_end.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/En-au-bitter_end.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bitter end"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with audio links"
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  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "bitter-ender"
    }
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  "etymology_templates": [
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        "3": "",
        "4": "unpleasant, arduous"
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      "expansion": "bitter (“unpleasant, arduous”)",
      "name": "m"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "The figurative usage is influenced by bitter (“unpleasant, arduous”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bitter ends",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bitter end (plural bitter ends)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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    {
      "word": "bitts"
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    {
      "word": "last gasp"
    },
    {
      "word": "the end of one's rope"
    },
    {
      "word": "until the bitter end"
    },
    {
      "word": "to the bitter end"
    },
    {
      "word": "to the bitter end and beyond"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Nautical"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "pay out a rope to the bitter end (pay out all of the rope)"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "anchor",
          "anchor"
        ],
        [
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        ],
        [
          "abaft",
          "abaft"
        ],
        [
          "bitts",
          "bitts"
        ],
        [
          "inboard",
          "inboard"
        ],
        [
          "ship",
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        [
          "riding",
          "riding"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) That part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The final six fathoms of anchor chain before the point of attachment in the chain locker of modern US naval vessels."
      ],
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        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) The final six fathoms of anchor chain before the point of attachment in the chain locker of modern US naval vessels."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The end of a long and difficult process."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) The end of a long and difficult process."
      ],
      "tags": [
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      ]
    }
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      "tags": [
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor",
      "word": "étalingure"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "korennój",
      "sense": "that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor",
      "word": "коренно́й коне́ц"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "the end of a long and difficult process",
      "word": "katkera loppu"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bitter end"
}

{
  "called_from": "form_descriptions/2013",
  "msg": "more than one value in \"roman\": konéc vs. korennój",
  "path": [
    "bitter end"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "noun",
  "title": "bitter end",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.