end up

verb

ended up; ending up; ends up

: to reach or come to a place, condition, or situation that was not planned or expected

The book ended up in the trash.

He didn't want to end up like his father.

She ended up a rich woman.

He ended up (living) in a nursing home.

The movie we wanted to see was sold out so we ended up seeing a different one.

Examples of end up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The film was greenlit at $125 million but ended up ballooning to $160 and $180 million after production ran long, according to knowledgeable sources. — Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 3 Oct. 2026

The show worked with local police, but many of the criminal cases later ended up being thrown out due to issues of entrapment or jurisdiction, per Fischel; none of the other men arrested in the sting that included Conradt’s suicide were prosecuted. — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026

California’s plan to save coastal homes from El Niño could end up killing beaches. — Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Though Andrew and Mariyam are in it, the book ended up having a much larger scope. — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for end up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup