end

1 of 5

noun

ˈend

Synonyms of end next

: the part of an area that lies at the boundary

b(1)

: a point that marks the extent of something

(2)

: the point where something ceases to exist

world without end

: the extreme or last part lengthwise : tip

: the terminal unit of something spatial that is marked off by units

: a player stationed at the extremity of a line or team (as in football)

: cessation of a course of action, pursuit, or activity

: death, destruction

c(1)

: the ultimate state

(2)

: result, issue

: something incomplete, fragmentary, or undersized : remnant

: an outcome worked toward : purpose

the end of poetry is to be poetry—

R. P. Warren

: the object by virtue of or for the sake of which an event takes place

: a share in an undertaking

kept your end up

: a particular operation or aspect of an undertaking or organization

the sales end of the business

: something that is extreme : ultimate

—used with the

: a period of action or turn in any of various sports events (such as archery or lawn bowling)

ended

ˈen-dəd

adjective

end

2 of 5

verb (1)

ended; ending; ends

transitive verb

: to bring to an end

: destroy

: to make up the end of

a wedding scene ends the film

intransitive verb

: to come to an end

the meeting will end at noon

: to reach a specified ultimate rank, situation, or place

—usually used with up

ended up as a colonel

: die

end

3 of 5

adjective

: final, ultimate

end results

end markets

end

4 of 5

verb (2)

ended; ending; ends

transitive verb

dialectal, England

: to put (grain or hay) into a barn or stack

end-

5 of 5

combining form

variants or endo-

: within : inside

endoskeleton

compare ect-, exo-

: taking in

endothermic

Phrases

in the end

: after all, ultimately

will surely succeed in the end

no end

: exceedingly

it pleases us no end

on end

: without a stop or letup

it rained for days on end

Choose the Right Synonym for end

Noun

intention, intent, purpose, design, aim, end, object, objective, goal mean what one intends to accomplish or attain.

intention implies little more than what one has in mind to do or bring about.

announced his intention to marry

intent suggests clearer formulation or greater deliberateness.

the clear intent of the statute

purpose suggests a more settled determination.

being successful was her purpose in life

design implies a more carefully calculated plan.

the order of events came by accident, not design

aim adds to these implications of effort directed toward attaining or accomplishing.

her aim was to raise film to an art form

end stresses the intended effect of action often in distinction or contrast to the action or means as such.

willing to use any means to achieve his end

object may equal end but more often applies to a more individually determined wish or need.

his constant object was the achievement of pleasure

objective implies something tangible and immediately attainable.

their objective is to seize the oil fields

goal suggests something attained only by prolonged effort and hardship.

worked years to reach her goals

Verb (1)

close, end, conclude, finish, complete, terminate mean to bring or come to a stopping point or limit.

close usually implies that something has been in some way open as well as unfinished.

close a debate

end conveys a strong sense of finality.

ended his life

conclude may imply a formal closing (as of a meeting).

the service concluded with a blessing

finish may stress completion of a final step in a process.

after it is painted, the house will be finished

complete implies the removal of all deficiencies or a successful finishing of what has been undertaken.

the resolving of this last issue completes the agreement

terminate implies the setting of a limit in time or space.

your employment terminates after three months

Example Sentences

Noun The report is due at the end of the month. She interviewed several players at the end of the game. The restaurant is in the north end of the city. We biked from one end of the island to the other. The house is at the end of the road. They live at opposite ends of town. the deep end of a swimming pool She drove the end of the stake into the ground. The car's front end was damaged. One end of the rope was tangled. Adjective the end product of a process the end point of the operation See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Combined with an 80-75 win over the Norse Jan. 12, Milwaukee secured a head-to-head sweep of the Norse, which could come into play in tiebreakers at the end. —

James Weber, The Enquirer, 29 Jan. 2023 Sprinkling cinnamon on at the end instead of during cooking gives the oatmeal a bright spice flavor that mellows with the residual heat of the porridge. —

Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2023 But, also, sometimes, not everybody can be in at the end. —

Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 28 Jan. 2023 Front Porch Wall Decor Wreaths and seasonal doormats aren't the only ways to greet guests at the end of your walkway. —

Emily Vanschmus, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Jan. 2023 Under the Presidential Records Act, all official material is government property and has to be provided to the National Archives at the end of a president's term. —

Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 28 Jan. 2023 Ensure that the work areas are clean and safe for residents at the end of each workday. —

Kelly G. Richardson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Jan. 2023 During the pandemic, licensing requirements in states were often relaxed to enable doctors to practice in other states and many of those requirements are set to expire at the end of the public health emergency. —

Sarah Jane Tribble, Fortune, 27 Jan. 2023 At the end of the episode, we're left with a cliffhanger and don't discover Jen's superpower. —

Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 27 Jan. 2023

Verb

Salty foods, particularly those that have a lot of salt on the outside that can end up on the lips, can definitely affect the skin there, Dr. Day says. —

Women's Health, 27 Jan. 2023 This photo shows the mixture that is painted on the interior of ovens to mimic ingredients that usually end up on oven walls. —

Eva Bleyer, Good Housekeeping, 26 Jan. 2023 We've all been told to floss more and that'll probably never end. —

Danny Perez, Popular Mechanics, 26 Jan. 2023 There’s a school committee battle brewing in the Chariho Regional School District that could soon end up in a courtroom. —

Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Jan. 2023 But even with our current system, even with animal testing, things do get through Vioxx that end up not being safe in humans. —

James Brown, USA TODAY, 22 Jan. 2023 Birth defects kill at least 6,200 babies each year between 20 weeks of pregnancy and early infancy, according to the C.D.C., though this figure does not include pregnancies that end in abortions or miscarriages. —

Amy Schoenfeld Walker, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2023 The bill tries to dodge this with a provision that would end the sales tax in seven years unless the 16th Amendment is repealed. —

The Editorial Board, WSJ, 20 Jan. 2023 After Mountainside took that four-point lead late in the second quarter, the Mavericks then endured a scoreless drought that didn’t end until nearly halfway through the third quarter. —

Scott Sepich, oregonlive, 19 Jan. 2023

Adjective

While most sharks gradually returned to shallow waters after the end-Permian mass extinction, some species permanently adapted to deeper waters, concludes the Cladodontomorph study. —

Samantha Arrowsmith, Discover Magazine, 15 Apr. 2022 SungEel Recycling Park Georgia will recycle end-of-life batteries to reclaim critical metals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium. —

J. Scott Trubey, ajc, 18 Aug. 2022 Over the next several years, the first generation of EV batteries will reach end-of-life. —

Doron Frenkel, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2022 These conclusively tied the Siberian flood basalts to the end-Permian mass extinction, a key result for both biology and geology. —

Howard Lee, Ars Technica, 2 July 2022 Sedimentologist Christopher Fielding of the University of Connecticut, one of our longtime colleagues, had recently identified these rocks as river and lake sediments deposited during the end-Permian event. —

Chris Mays, Scientific American, 23 June 2022 But Heller and McDonald do not support applying means-end scrutiny in the Second Amendment context. —

Matt Ford, The New Republic, 23 June 2022 Another helpful metric to track during the digital journey is one that is very end-of-funnel-centric. —

Ashlee Piga, Forbes, 14 Apr. 2022 The response: The invasion of Ukraine is bringing to an end Western investment in Russia. —

Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'end.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.