End sb. World English Historical Dictionary

End sb. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Contents Slice Contents Key Bibliographic Record Murray’s New English Dictionary. 1897, rev. 2025. End sb. Forms: 1–7 ende, (2 aend, -e, 4 eende, hende, 4, 6 eande, 4 aend, eond, 5 heynd, 7 dial. eend), 3– end. Also 3–5 ȝende, 4 ȝend, 5 ȝynde, 6 yende. [Common. Teut.: OE. ęnde str. masc., corresponds to OS. endi (Du. einde), OHG. enti masc. (also neut.; MHG. ende masc., neut., mod.G. ende neut.), ON. ender (also ende wk. masc.; Sw. ände masc., ända fem., Da. ende), Goth. andeis:—OTeut. *andjo-z:—pre-Teutonic *antjo-s, cogn. with Skr. ánta masc., neut., end, boundary, with AND prep., and with OHG. andi, endi, ON. enne neut. (:—OTeut. *anþjo(m:—*a·ntjo(m) forehead.

1   In some dialects of ME. the e became long. The forms ȝend(e, ȝynd(e, yende may be merely phonetic developments of ēnd, or they may possibly be due to the influence of the vb. Y-END (OE. ȝeendian).]

2   I.  With reference to space.

3   1.  The extremity or outermost part (in any direction) of a portion of space, or of anything extended in space; utmost limit. Obs. in general sense; retained in phrase, the end(s of the earth.

4 c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter Ps. xviii. [xix.] 4. In alle eorðan uteo de swoeʓ heara and in endas ymbhwyrftes eorðan word heara.

5 c. 1000.  Ags. Ps. xviii. [xix]. 4. Ofer ealle eorðan endas [færð] heora word.

6 c. 1305.  St. Kenelm, 150, in E. E. P. (1862), 51. Forto pleyen him bi þe wodes ende.

7 1389.  in Eng. Gilds (1870), 7. Wt oute þe cite townes ende.

8 a. 1400–50.  Alexander, 173. All þe erth of Egipt fra end vnto othere Bees conquirid.

9 1599.  ? Greene, George a Greene (1861), 265. But darest thou walk to the towns end with me?

10 1657.  J. Smith, Myst. Rhet., 66. Christ shall … reign from the River to the end of the land.

11 1713.  Pope, Windsor For., 399. Earth’s distant ends our glory shall behold.

12 Mod.  I would go with him to the world’s end.

13   b.  A limit of magnitude or multitude.

14 c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter Ps. cxliv. [cxlv.] 3. Micel dryhten and herʓendlic swiðe and micelnisse his nis ende.

15 1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., III. iii. 53. Many a man knowes no end of his goods.

16 1865.  Mill, in Evening Star, 10 July. There was no end to the advantages.

17   † c.  A boundary. In pl. territorial boundaries [? after L. fines]. Obs.

18 1383.  Wyclif, Isa. x. 13. Y haue take awei the endis of peplis.

19 1483.  Caxton, Gold. Leg., 72/2. The Ryuer of the endes of the phylisteis.

20 1526.  Tindale, Acts xvii. 26. And the endes of their in habitacion.

21 1570.  Billingsley, Euclid, I. def. 5. 2. A line is the ende and terme of a superficies.

22   † 2.  A ‘quarter,’ division, region (of the world, of a country or town). Obs. (but cf. EAST-END, WEST-END, where this sense blends with 3).

23 c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., II. i. Þas feower heafodricu sindon on feower endum þyses middangeardes.

24 a. 1225.  St. Marher. (1862), 16. Ant al þe ende þæt tu ant heo habbeð in ierðet.

25 1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 377. Al þat aȝt was in Engelond he let somony in ech ende To Salesbury.

26 c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 32. Alle þe north ende was in his kepyng.

27 c. 1450.  Lonelich, Grail, lii. 540. Ȝoure fadir sendeth Into every ende aftyr his knyhtes.

28   3.  One of the two extremities of a line, or of the ‘length’ or greatest dimension of any object; that part of anything that includes the extremity of its length. From end to end: from one extremity to the other; throughout the length.

29 a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 430. He þe well bloweð went þe neruwe ende of þe horne to his owune muðe.

30 c. 1340.  Cursor M., 23201 (Edinb.). Þe pitte of helle pin, it es sa dep … þat end ne bes þar neuir apon.

31 c. 1394.  J. Malverne, Contn. Higden (Rolls), IX. App. 3. Perrexitque ad locum qui Anglice vocatur ‘Mile ende.’

32 c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 8795. Euer folowand the fell to þe fyngur endys.

33 a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, xxv. 75. Oberon satte at the tables ende.

34 1551.  Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. xiv. In the eande of the other line.

35 1602.  Return fr. Parnass., II. vi. (Arb.), 32. Your Hobby will meete you at the lanes end.

36 1633.  Lithgow, Totall Discourse, 22. I haue trod foure seuerall times from end to end of it [Italy].

37 1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 231. The Air Ground-pipe, laid the whole length of the Green-house...; and reaching from end to end.

38 1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, II. 79/1. The Bill berry, or Windberry, is round at the end.

39 1721–1800.  Bailey, Cann-Hook, an iron hook made fast to the end of a rope.

40 1758.  Johnson, Idler, No. 33, ¶ 25. Mutton-chops off the worst end.

41 1760.  Wesley, Jrnl., 30 June (1827), III. 9. I was quickly wet to my toe’s end.

42 1863.  Kingsley, Water-Bab., 39. The end of his own nose.

43 1867.  W. W. Smyth, Coal & Coal-mining, 166. On the floor of the cage or at the ends of a rod passing through its upper bar.

44   † b.  The point of a spear. Obs.

45 c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 9132. He bare hym þurgh the brest with a bright end.

46   c.  (see LAND’S END.)

47   d.  ? transf. In the game of Bowls: The portion of a game that is played from one end of the green to the other (see quot. 1876). Formerly also a definite portion of a game in Billiards and some other sports.

48 1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 263/1. Five ends make a Game by Day light, and three by Candle light.

49 1747.  Scheme Equip. Men of War, 37. Playing an End or two at that innocent, tho’ laudable Game, called PUSH PIN.

50 1876.  H. F. Wilkinson, Bowls, in Encycl. Brit., IV. 181. The bowling generally takes place alternately from the two ‘ends’ of the green. A ‘void end’ is when neither side can score a cast.

51   4.  The surface that bounds an object at either of its two extremities; the ‘head’ of a cask.

52 1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 274 b. The hopes kepeth fast the bordes of the vessell … & holdeth in ye endes that they start not.

53 1816.  J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 224. Draw lines across each end of the stone.

54 Mod.  The ends of the cask were stove in. The ends of the box are of hard wood.

55   5.  A piece broken, cut off, or left; a fragment, remnant. Cf. CANDLE-END. Of cloth: A half-length, or half-piece. Also in Odds and ends (see ODDS).

56 1481–90.  Howard Househ. Bks. (1841), 141. My lord sent to Stoke be the carter ij.c. xxiiij. lb. yren, conteyning xj. endes.

57 1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. F vj. Scraps or shreds or short ends of lace.

58 1605.  Bacon, Adv. Learn., II. 66. Which Collections are much like a Frippers or Brokers shoppe; that hath ends of euerie thing, but nothing of worth.

59 1647.  Ward, Simp. Cobler, 13. Give him leave to sell all his rags, and odde-ends.

60 1704.  in Lond. Gaz., No. 3986/4. Lost … 5 yards and a half of superfine … Black, 12 yards and a half of refine Black … being both Last Ends.

61 1712.  E. Hatton, Merch. Mag., 22. An End or Half Cloth, or a Long or Whole Cloth.

62 1713.  Swift, Frenzy of J. Dennis, Wks. 1755, III. I. 140. On his table were some ends of verse and of candles.

63 1887.  Rider Haggard, Jess, xxxii. The bit of candle … was … burnt out, so … he produced a box full of ‘ends.’

64   b.  fig. Obs. exc. in Odds and ends (q.v.).

65 1599.  Shaks., Much Ado, I. i. 290. Ere you flout old ends any further, examine your conscience.

66 1605.  B. Jonson, Volpone, Prol. Nor hales he in a gull, old ends reciting, To stop gaps in his loose writing.

67 1607.  R. Wilkinson, Merch. Royall, 26. Euerie Ladie … if her husband haue bribed out but an end of an office, yet she reuels and playes Rex.

68 1634.  Bp. Hall, Occas. Medit., Wks. (1808), 104. To improve these short ends of time, which are stolen from his more important avocations.

69 1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 251. They call … language of a finer Dresse, Ends of Playes.

70   c.  A part, proportion; only with adjs. of quantity, as in † micel ende (OE.) a great part; † most end, also most an end [? corruption of *mosten ende, OE. mǽstan ende], used adverbially = ‘for the most part,’ ‘almost entirely,’ ‘especially’; † none end, no portion; a good (great), end (dial.), a large proportion (of).

71 O. E. Chron., an. 1052. Harold … ofsloh mycelne ende þes folces.

72 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Trin.), 14478. [The Jews] souȝten him to slone And moost ende for þat resoun Þat he vp reised lazaroun.

73 c. 1400–40[?].  How a Merchande, etc. 106, in E. P. P. (Hazl.), I. 201. To speke wyth none ende of my kynne.

74 1623.  Lisle, Ælfric on O. & N. T., 18. He [Ieremias] was oft in bands and cast into prison for his holy doctrine, and bore most an end the peoples sinnes.

75 1676.  Hale, Contempl., I. 58. The credit of the Relator, which most an end depends upon another’s credit.

76 1739.  R. Bull, trans. Dedekindus’ Grobianus, 122. Tipplers most an end are roaring Boys.

77 1869.  R. B. Peacock, Lonsdale Gloss. s.v., It cost me a girt end of a pound. Ibid., Most on End … used adverbially: continually, unremittingly.

78 Mod. Derbysh., It cost me a good end of ten pounds. I have been waiting a good end of an hour.

79   6.  in various technical uses. a. Coal-mining. The furthest part of a gallery or working. End of coal (see quot. 1881).

80 1865.  Morning Star, 7 Jan. The men are of course usually at work in the ‘ends.’

81 1878.  Huxley, Physiogr., 238. This direction is sometimes called the ‘end’ of the coal.

82 1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., End of coal, the direction or section at right-angles to the face; sometimes called the butt.

83   b.  Naut. Cable’s end, or simply end: the last length of a cable. Rope’s end: a short length of rope bound at the ends with thread, used as an instrument of punishment. Bitter end (see BITTER).

84 1663.  Pepys, Diary, 23 June. I beat him, and then went up in to fetch my rope’s end.

85 1801.  Sir H. Parker, Lett., 6 April, in Duncan, Nelson (1806), 140. They [ships] were riding with two cables end.

86 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Rope’s end. The termination of a fall, and should be pointed or whipped. Formerly much used for illegal punishment.

87 1882.  Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 145. Have plenty of end in the bows ready to make fast.

88   c.  A shoemaker’s end: a length of thread armed or pointed with a bristle; = WAX-END. To pack up one’s ends and awls (Sc.): i.e., all one’s effects.

89 1598.  Florio, Lesina, a shooe-makers ende or awle.

90 1656.  H. More, Antid. Ath., II. xi. (1712), 74. Two strings like two shoe-makers ends come from the hinder parts of the male.

91 1713.  Swift, Elegy on Partridge, Wks. 1755, III. II. 82. Ariadne kindly lends Her braided hair to make thee ends.

92 a. 1745.  Meston, Poems (1767), 98. Laden with tackle of his stall, Last, ends, and hammer, strap, and awl.

93 1798.  Wolcott (P. Pindar), Tales Hoy, Wks. 1812, IV. 389. Crispin too forgets his End and Awl.

94 1823.  Galt, R. Gilhaize, I. xxv. 271. They arrived at Edinburgh, and constrained the Queen Regent … to pack up her ends and awls.

95   d.  Spinning and Weaving. (a.) Card-end: a sliver or carding. (b.) A worsted yarn in a Brussels carpet.

96 1875.  Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 978. For spinning coarse numbers … six card-ends are usually converted into one riband.

97   II.  With reference to time or serial order.

98   7.  The limit of duration, or close, of a period of time; the termination, conclusion, of an action, process, continuous state, or course of events; the terminal point of a series; the conclusion of a discourse, book, chapter, etc.

99 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. x. 22. Soðlice se þurh wunað oð ende, se byð hal.

100 c. 1200.  Ormin, 4356. Forr seffne daȝhess brinngenn aȝȝ þe wuke till hiss ende.

101 c. 1230.  Hali Meid., 17. Blisse þat cumeð … withuten ani ende.

102 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 4236. Es noght his murning mai amend I wen bifor his liues ende. Ibid., 26595. If þou þis bok will se till end.

103 1340.  Ayenb., 262. Þis boc is ycome to þe ende.

104 a. 1400–50.  Alexander, 880. Philip … lofes hire [Olympias] lely to his lyfes ende.

105 1535.  Coverdale, 1 Cor. xv. 24. Then the ende, whan he shal delyuer vp the kyngdome vnto God the father.

106 1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 22. Robert had heard this message unto the ende.

107 1709.  Addison, Tatler, No. 24, ¶ 3. This Felicity attending him to his Life’s End.

108 1803.  R. Anderson, Cumbld. Ball., Calep Crosby. Frae week en to week en.

109 1862.  Stanley, Jew. Ch. (1877), I. x. 198. The passage of the Jordan was not the end, but the beginning of a long conflict.

110 1876.  Trevelyan, Macaulay, I. i. 13. He worked unceasingly … from year’s end to year’s end.

111   b.  The latter or concluding part (of a period, action, etc.).

112 1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., II. xx. (1495), 47. In the ende of the worlde the deuyll shall be … moche the more feruent to woodnesse.

113 a. 1200.  Moral Ode, in E. E. P., 26. Ac ȝif þe ende is euel, al it is uuel.

114 1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., I. iii. 82. The Ewes In end of Autumne turned to the Rammes.

115 a. 1744.  Broome, Epic Poetry, in Pope’s Odyss. (1760), xxii.–xxiii. (J.). The Causes and Designs of an Action are the Beginning;… the Difficulties that are met with … are the Middle; and the Unravelling and Resolution of these difficulties are the End.

116 1847.  Mrs. A. Kerr, trans. Ranke’s Hist. Servia, 170. Kara George … towards the end of the summer of 1806, approached the eastern frontier.

117   8.  Termination of existence; destruction, abolition. (The early examples of end of the world should perhaps be referred to 7, as world may have been taken in its older temporal sense; cf. however Fr. fin du monde.).

118 832.  Charter, in Sweet, O. E. T., 447. ðet he ðas god forðleste oð wiaralde ende.

119 c. 1340.  Cursor M., 22390 (Edinb.). His dome þate him sale driue til ende.

120 1662.  Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., III. i. § 8. 377. The world may have an end before he proves his Atoms could give it a beginning.

121 1690.  Locke, Govt., I. xi. § 126. 162 (J.). There would be an end of all Civil Government, if the Assignment of Civil Power were by Divine Institution to the Heir.

122   b.  The death (of a person); a mode or manner of death.

123 c. 1305.  Edmund Conf., 590, in South-Eng. Leg. (1887), 448. Þe more is bodi ipined was: þe ner he was þen ende.

124 c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., C. 426. Bed me bilyue my bale stour, & bryng me on ende.

125 c. 1340.  Cursor M., 3905 (Trin.). Rachel bare … beniamyn Þat was þe cause of hir ende.

126 c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 1438. Ffele folke forfaren with a ffeble ende.

127 a. 1440.  Sir Eglam., 756. The dragon hath tan hys ȝynde.

128 1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 650. This ende had the valiant Lorde, Richard Plantagenet Duke of Yorke.

129 1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., III. ii. 44. Then if he loose he makes a Swan-like end, Fading in musique.

130 1667.  Pepys, Diary (1879), IV. 338. Great talk of the good end that my Lord Treasurer made.

131 1732.  Pope, Epit. Gay. Unblam’d through life; lamented in thy end.

132 1807.  Crabbe, Par. Reg., III. 38. Call then a priest and fit him for his end.

133 1879.  Froude, Cæsar, vi. 52. To be murdered was the usual end of exceptionally distinguished Romans.

134   † c.  In phrase to be the end of (cf. to be the death of).

135 1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., II. i. 15. Lest … the … King of Kings award Either of you to be the others end. Ibid. (1597), 2 Hen. IV., IV. iv. 130. This Apoplexie will (certaine) be his end.

136   9.  Ultimate state or condition. Chiefly in Bible phrases, in which, however, end is often misinterpreted in sense 8 b.

137 c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter xxxviii. [xxxix.] 5. Cuð me doa dryhten ende minne.

138 1611.  Bible, Ps. xxxvii. 37. Marke the perfect man, and behold the vpright: for the end of that man is peace.

139   10.  Latter († last) end: variously used in senses 7 b, 8 b, 9. Also Sc. hinder end.

140 1382.  Wyclif, Ecclus. i. 13. Wel shal be in the laste endys.

141 1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 158. The latter ende of this moneth of July … the Legate … tooke his leave of the king.

142 1601.  Shaks., All’s Well, II. v. 30. A good Trauailer is something at the latter end of a dinner.

143 1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 193. The middle or latter end of this month.

144 1670.  Cotton, Espernon, I. II. 57. Towards the Dukes latter end, I read this History to him.

145   † 11.  A termination of doubt or debate; a resolution, device, expedient; an agreement, settlement. Obs.

146 1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 169. To London vorte wende, To nyme þer ys conseyl, wuch were best ȝende.

147 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Man of Law’s T., 168. Wel sche saugh ther nas non other ende.

148 c. 1460.  Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714), 66. Unto the time his said Kyng had made such End, with him, his Adherents, and Fautours, as he desired.

149 1489.  Plumpton Corr., 82. The dayes men cannot agre us, so Mr. Mydleton to make the end.

150 1542–3.  Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII., c. 27 § 100. Parties, to whome any such offence shall hap to be committed, shall in nowise take any ende or agreement with the offenders.

151   † 12.  The completion of an action; the accomplishment of a purpose: chiefly in phrases, To have, make, take, bring to, be at (an) end. Also, the acme, utmost reach. Obs.

152 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 10127. Prophecies com al to end. Ibid., 25862. Þat þou mai noght do to end. Ibid., 27783. For drede þat he may noght mak end. Ibid. (c. 1340), 8580. Al þat his fader be-gynne muȝt salamon til hende hit broȝt.

153 1375.  Barbour, Bruce, IV. 660. Feill anoyis thoill ȝhe sall, Or that ȝour purposs ende haf tane.

154 c. 1440.  Boetus, Laud MS. 559. 10. Withouten hym may hit nought To an eande our purpose be brought.

155 c. 1590.  Marlowe, Massacre Paris, I. ii. 142. To bring the will of our desires to end.

156 1632.  Massinger, Maid of Hon., I. i. To eat and sleep supinely is the end Of human blessings.

157 1679.  Burnet, Hist. Ref., Ep. Ded. 3. To have been at the end of their designs.

158   13.  Event, issue, result.

159 c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1774, Lucrece. What ende that I make, it shal be so!

160 c. 1400.  Apol. Loll., 28. Onli in name, & as to ȝend & effect is nowȝt.

161 1483.  Cath. Angl., 114. An Ende, exitus.

162 1559.  Myrr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk, xix. But note the ende.

163 1581.  Savile, Tacitus’ Hist., III. xix. (1591), 125. The ende went on his side.

164 1633.  Heywood, Eng. Trav., IV. Wks. 1874, IV. 73. The end still crownes the deede.

165 1641.  J. Jackson, True Evang. T., II. 160. It is the end that crownes the worke.

166 1878.  B. Taylor, Deukalion, I. vi. 50. The end shall crown us: The Gods are just.

167   † b.  To have its end(s) upon: to have influence upon. Obs.

168 1638.  Chillingw., Relig. Prot., I. ii. § 49. 71. The Authority of one holy man, which apparently has no ends upon me.

169 1736.  Butler, Anal., II. viii. 284. Religion, considered as a Probation has had its End upon all Persons, to whom [etc.].

170   14.  An intended result of an action; an aim, purpose. (Cf. L. finis.) To accomplish, answer, fulfil, gain, † make, serve one’s end(s: see those verbs.

171 c. 1305.  Edmund Conf., in E. E. P. (1862), 72. Hit schal ȝut likie wel bi þan ȝe wite þan ende.

172 1581.  Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (Arb.), 30. The Sadlers next end is to make a good saddle.

173 a. 1628.  Preston, New Covt. (1629), 232. A right end never hath a crooked rule leading to it.

174 1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 184. They study … not to make their ends on any mans weaknesse.

175 1719.  De Foe, Crusoe (ed. 3), I. 174. This answer’d my End.

176 1735.  Berkeley, Free-think. in Math., § 6, Wks. 1871, III. 304. I have no end to serve but truth.

177 1759.  Robertson, Hist. Scot., I. III. 260. She had fully gained her end.

178 1832.  Ht. Martineau, Life in Wilds, vii. 88. I am rather afraid of our people mistaking the means for the end.

179 1851.  D. Jerrold, St. Giles, x. 102. Mr. Capstick was delighted, in his own way, that the ends of justice would be satisfied.

180 1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 323. They may fairly use a little violence in order to accomplish their end.

181   b.  In phrases, For or to this (that, what, which) end, to no end. Also in conjunctional phrase, To the end (that); formerly also, † To the end to (with inf.).

182   Now somewhat archaic or rhetorical; the ordinary phrase is in order (that or to).

183 138[?].  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 354. Han power of him to þise ende.

184 c. 1400.  Maundev., v. 51. Ȝee schulle knowe and preve, to the ende that ȝee schulle not ben disceyved.

185 1474.  Caxton, Chesse, IV. ii. (1860), K iiij b. The faders had dyuerse wyues … to thende whan one was [with] childe, they myght take another.

186 1558.  Warde, trans. Alexis’ Secr. (1568), 64 a. To thende they may al equally receive of the honnye.

187 1605.  Bacon, Adv. Learn., I. ii. § 9. C 4. To the end to peruse the Greeke Authors.

188 1634.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 28. To which end, King Abbas, sends his Ambassadour to Constantinople.

189 1684.  Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 70. I am come forth to withstand them, and to that end will back the Lions.

190 1692.  Bp. Ely, Answ. Touchstone, 187. It is to no end to look what St. Austin saith.

191 1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 305, ¶ 12. To the End that they may be perfect also in this Practice.

192 1728.  Sheridan, Persius, III. (1739), 47. Study … for what end ye were created.

193 1769.  Robertson, Chas. V., V. II. 244. For this end he summoned Luther to appear at Rome.

194 1848.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 170. For these ends, and for these ends alone, he wished to obtain arbitrary power.

195   c.  Sc. End’s errand: the special design.

196 1821.  Galt, Sir A. Wylie, II. 158. Did they say nothing of the end’s errand they had come upon?

197   15.  A final cause; the object for which a thing exists; the purpose for which it is designed or instituted.

198 1534.  Whitinton, Tullyes Offices, I. (1540), 4. Suche offyces … pertayne to the ende of felycitie.

199 1587.  Golding, De Mornay, xvi. 299. And as man is the end of the World, so is GOD the end of Man.

200 1648.  Shorter Catech., Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever.

201 1722.  Wollaston, Relig. Nat., vii. (1738), 147. The end of society is the common welfare and good of the people associated.

202 1776.  Gibbon, Decl. & F., I. xxiv. 702. I have considered the happiness of the people as the end of government.

203 1869.  Ruskin, Q. of Air, § 60. The flower is the end or proper object of the seed.

204 a. 1876.  J. H. Newman, Hist. Sk., I. IV. ii. 375. The highest end of Church union … is quiet and unanimity.

205   III.  Idiomatic phrases.

206   16.  With various prepositions forming advb. phrases.

207   a.  At the end (ME. at þen, atten ende), † at end: at last. † b. For (an) end: in conclusion, finally, ‘to cut the matter short.’ c. In the end, † in end: ultimately, in the long run. † d. To an end: consecutively, through the whole period specified.

208   a.  c. 1300.  Beket, 81. Attan ende bi cas; Tho heo com aȝe thulke hous ther this Gilbert was.

209 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 14879 (Gött.). Þai at end him did on rod.

210 1340.  Ayenb., 128. Atenende þe zeneȝere … is ase þe ilke þet slepþ amide þe ze.

211 c. 1320.  Sir Tristr., 407. Or þyng þat is him dere Ich man preise at ende. Ibid., 3287. Þai hadde woundes ille At þe nende.

212 1632.  Lithgow, Totall Discourse, 127. In end … the slaves … runne the Galley a shoare.

213 1872.  Browning, Hervé Riel. My friend, I must speak out at the end, Though I find the speaking hard.

214   b.  1570–6.  Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 221. For an end therefore I tel you, [etc.].

215 1576.  Fleming, Panoplie Ep., 10. For ende, he counselleth Curio to take charge of the common wealth.

216 1607.  Shaks., Cor., II. i. 260. For an end, we must [etc.].

217   c.  c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter ix. 19. Nales in ende oferȝeotulnis bið ðearfena.

218 1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 165. But in the end the losse fell to the Englishmen.

219 1828–40.  Tytler, Hist. Scot. (1864), I. 25. His [Edward I.’s] power and influence would in the end induce the different parties to appeal to him.

220 1885.  Manch. Exam., 13 July, 5/5. The match in the end was very narrowly won by Harrow.

221   d.  1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus. (1877), 50. Neuer content with one colour or fashion two dayes to an ende.

222 1657.  Serjeant, Schism Dispach’t, 478. Would any government … remain on foot three years to an end, if, [etc.].

223 1717.  J. Fox, Wanderer, 160. Octavius … told him he should not live another Hour to an End.

224   17.  On end (see also AN-END): † a. at last; b. consecutively, without intermission; † c. on (one’s) way, forward, along; (whence To come on end, to come forward; (ME.) To set spell or tale on end, to begin a discourse); d. in an upright position, resting on (its) end.

225   a.  c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 25. Al swa he doð swa þe swica þe bi-swiked hine seolfe on-ende.

226 c. 1320.  Cast. Love, 1064. Þat foreward on ende wel was i-holde.

227 c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 186. I drede on ende quat schulde byfalle.

228   b.  1634.  Rutherford, Lett., No. 32 (1862), I. 111. And was brought, thrice on end, in remembrance of you in my prayer to God.

229 1836.  in Byron’s Wks. (1846), 552/1. The ministerial prints raved for two months on end.

230 1882.  Besant, All Sorts, vii. Working sixteen hours on end at twopence an hour.

231   c.  c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Trin.), 1295. Seeth set tale on ende [Cott. spell o-nend] And tolde whi he was sende.

232 1621.  Sanderson, Serm., I. 188. These would be soundly spurred up, and whipped on end. Ibid. (1630), II. 266. Others will not come on end chearfully.

233   d.  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 25049. Þe cros … quen it es sett on end vp euen, It takens pes tuix erth and heuen.

234 1598.  Grenewey, Tacitus’ Descr. Germany, vi. (1612), 269. The Sueuians … haue their haire standing an end.

235 1784.  Cowper, Task, IV. 86. Katerfelto, with his hair on end At his own wonders.

236 1836.  Random Recoll. Ho. Lords, xvi. 383. His dark hair … stands on end on the fore part of his head.

237 1839.  W. Irving, Wolfert’s R. (1855), 143. A great hotel in Paris is a street set on end.

238   18.  Without end (ME. buten ende): endlessly, for ever; also in adjectival sense, endless. World without end: used as transl. late L. in secula seculorum, ‘for ever and ever’; also attrib.

239 a. 1000.  Boeth. Metr., xxi. 44. Þæt micle leoht … is … Ece butan ende.

240 c. 1200.  Ormin, 409. Rihhtwise menn … shulenn þabbenn … A butenn ende blisse inoh.

241 c. 1320.  Sir Tristr., 2417. He ȝaf to blauncheflour Wales wiþ outen end Bidene.

242 138[?].  Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 24. Helle wiþ-outen hende.

243 1450–1530.  Myrr. Our Ladye, 326. The vyrgyn mary … rayneth with cryste without enden.

244 1549.  Bk. Com. Prayer, Gloria Patri, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be: world without end.

245 1577.  St. Aug. Manual, 23. Pleasaunt tunes … are song to thy glory … without all end.

246 1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 799. A time me thinkes too short, To make a world-without-end bargaine in.

247 1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 67. Torture without end Still urges.

248   19.  † a. End for end: (Naut., of a cable) paid out to the full length (obs.). b. To shift, turn end for end: to put each end of (a thing) where the other was; chiefly Naut., to reverse (a rope), to upset (a boat). To go end for end: (of a boat) to be upset. Also in same sense, End over end. c. End to end: with the ends in contact, lengthwise.

249   a.  1627.  Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., vii. 30. And end for end is when the Cable runneth cleere out of the Hawse, or any Rope out of his shiuer.

250 1769.  Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), Filer le cable bout par bout, to veer away the cable to the end, to veer out the cable end-for-end.

251   b.  a. 1734.  North, Exam., II. v. § 2 (1740), 316. We must turn our Style End for End.

252 1758.  in Phil. Trans., LVIII. 284. The axis of the telescope was turned end for end; that is, the telescope … was turned upside down.

253 1804.  A. Duncan, Mariner’s Chron., I. 224. A heavy sea striking the afterpart, it [the boat] went end for end over.

254 1805.  W. Hunter, in Naval Chron., XIII. 23. It would turn the Cutter end-over-end.

255 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., To shift a rope end for end, as in a tackle, the fall is made the standing part, and the standing part becomes the fall.

256 1870.  Lowell, Study Wind., 201. He turns commonplaces end for end.

257 1875.  Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket-bk., § 6 (ed. 2), 219. The boat will be thrown … end over end.

258 1860.  Tyndall, Glac., II. § 1. 228. It has been found that 39,000 waves of red light placed end to end would make up an inch.

259   20.  a. End on: placed so as to present the end directly towards the eye, or towards any object; opposed to broadside on. Also attrib. Chiefly Naut.

260 1832.  Marryat, N. Forster, III. x. 156. She then offered, being nearly ‘end on.’

261 1834.  Mrs. Somerville, Connex. Phys. Sc., xxxiv. (1849), 373. A single pole end-on is sufficient.

262 1836.  E. Howard, R. Reefer, xli. From the end-on view we had of her, we could not count her ports.

263 1866.  R. M. Ballantyne, Shifting Winds, iv. (1881), 31. The lifeboat met the next breaker end-on.

264 1880.  Mac Cormac, Antisept. Surg., 229. The accident was caused by a scaffold plank of wood … falling end-on upon the man’s head.

265   b.  End up: with the end uppermost.

266   21.  No end: (colloq.) a vast quantity or number (of). Also (mod. slang) as adv., = ‘immensely,’ ‘to any extent’; and (with of) qualifying a predicate. Cf. 1 b.

267 1623.  Bingham, Xenophon, 143. You … made no end of promises.

268 1856.  Reade, Never too late, x. Box at the opera costs no end.

269 1859.  Farrar, Eric, 55. You are no end cleverer and stronger.

270 1866.  Trollope, Belton Est., III. v. 121. And what comfort have I in a big house, and no end of gardens, and a place like this?

271 1872.  E. Peacock, Mabel Heron, I. i. 9. You will have no end of trouble.

272 18[?].  Besant, All in Garden Fair, viii. Keats was no end of a fellow.

273 Mod.  I consider him no end of a humbug.

274   22.  With verbs. (See also 12–14.) a. To be at an end: (of resources, etc.) to be exhausted; (of periods of time) to be completed; (of an action or state) to terminate. In corresponding senses, To bring, come to an end. b. To be at the end of (one’s resources, etc.): to have no more to spend; To be at one’s wits’ end: to be utterly at a loss, to be quite perplexed. c. To put an end to, † to set end of: to terminate, put a stop to, abolish. d. To have, take an end: to be terminated, concluded. e. To make an end: to conclude, finish (absol.); also const. of, with.

275   a.  c. 1340.  Cursor M., 22263 (Edinb.). His rigning es brote til ende.

276 14[?].  in Tundale’s Vis. (1843), 155. Then schulde oure trobul be at a nende.

277 c. 1590.  Marlowe, Dido, V. i. 1409. Our travels are at end.

278 1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 430. Speake for your selues, my wit is at an end.

279 1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 186. A Gard’ner’s work is never at an end.

280 1711.  Steele, Spect., No. 284, ¶ 2. Their affairs will be at an end.

281 1852.  Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., II. xxxvii. 235. Will these years and years of misery come to an end?—shall we be free?

282 1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 49. This part of the festival was nearly at an end.

283 1877.  Morley, Carlyle, Crit. Misc., Ser. I. (1878), 198. Imposture must come to an end.

284   b.  1555.  Eden, Decades W. Ind., III. I. (Arb.), 140. They were at theyr wyttes endes whither to turne them.

285 1655.  W. F., Meteors, III. 68. It would make men … to be at their Wits End if they were not accustomed to such Tumultuous Tempests.

286 1712.  Arbuthnot, John Bull (1755), 33. He is at an end of all his cash.

287 1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 280. I am simply getting bewitched and enchanted, and am at my wits’ end.

288   c.  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 25870. Þar has þi schrift sett end o pyne.

289 1647.  Clarendon, Hist. Reb. (1702), I. 12. Put a Quick end to this Treaty.

290 1681–6.  J. Scott, Chr. Life (1747), III. 471. The Day of Judgment … shall … put an End to all their Mischiefs for ever.

291 1792.  Anecd. W. Pitt, III. xlii. 150. If an end is not put to this war there is an end to this country.

292   d.  c. 1590.  Marlowe, Edw. II., II. iv. 1137 (1594), E 4 b. My sorrowes will haue end.

293 1605.  Verstegan, Dec. Intell., i. (1628), 5. This so great a worke now ceased and tooke an end.

294   e.  c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., II. ii. § 1. Biddende þæt hie … þæs ʓewinnes sumne ende ʓedyden.

295 1570–6.  Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 241. To make an end, heere was sometime a religious College.

296 1611.  Bible, Ezra x. 17. And they made an ende, with all the men that had taken strange wiues.

297 Mod.  The government has resolved to make an end of the insurgents.

298   23.  Elliptically. And there (so) an end: = ‘this is, shall be, an end.’ Obs. or arch.

299 [1382.  Wyclif, 1 Cor. xv. 24. Aftirward an ende, whanne, [etc.].]

300 1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., I. iii. 65. What I will, I will, and there an end.

301 1608.  S. Collins, Serm., 51. Which I will speak a word or twain unto, and so an end.

302 1615.  Jn. Day, Festivals, 340. As for his Carkasse, a Coffin shall cover it, and there an ende of our great Purchaser.

303   24.  Proverbial phrases: To begin at the wrong end. † Not to care which end goes forward: to be negligent. † To get by the end: to get command of, so as to have ready for use. To get the better end of: to get the advantage of. To have the better, or worse, end of the staff, ‘to get the best, or worst, of it.’ To have at one’s fingers’ or tongue’s end: to know by heart, be able to quote with readiness. † At the hinder end of the bargain: when accounts are settled, fig. To be at an idle end, to be unoccupied; (to live) at a loose end, with no fixed occupation. † To live at stave’s end, ? to be unsociable, keep every one at a distance. To make both, two ends, the two ends of the year, meet: to live within one’s income [cf. Fr. joindre les deux bouts, les deux bouts de l’an]. To come to the end of one’s tether: to do all that one has ability, or liberty to do.

304 1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 29. Men of þat side schal haue the worse ende.

305 1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 34. I liue here at staues end.

306 1573.  G. Harvey, Letter-bk. (1884), 3. Thai that have the wors end of the staf shal be sure to be wrung to the wors.

307 1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., V. i. 81. Thou hast it … at the fingers ends, as they say.

308 1608.  Withals, Dict., 86. Negligently, as caring not what ende goes forward.

309 1638.  Sanderson, Serm., II. 97. We have rather cheated the devil, than he us; and have gotten the better end of him.

310 1662.  Fuller, Worthies, Cumberl., 219 (D.). Worldly wealth he cared not for, desiring only to make both ends meet.

311 c. 1680.  Beveridge, Serm. (1729), I. 55. Getting a scripture-word by the end.

312 1690.  B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Ends … Tis good to make both ends meet.

313 1722.  De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 124. The devil will have you at the hinder end of the bargain.

314 1736.  Bailey, To have the better end of the Staff.

315 1742.  Richardson, Pamela, III. 178. Your Lordship has got a Word by the End, that you seem mighty fond of.

316 1748.  Smollett, Rod. Rand., x. He made shift to make the two ends of the year meet.

317 1865.  Pall Mall Gaz., 22 April, 1/2. And living completely at a loose end.

318 1876.  Miss Broughton, Joan, III. II. iii. 103. By five and thirty the best of us has pretty well come to the end of her tether! Ibid., iv. 131. Anthony struggling to make two ends meet!

319 1878.  Huxley, Physiogr., Pref. p. vi. Most of the elementary works I have seen, begin at the wrong end.

320 1882.  T. Mozley, Remin. Oriel College (ed. 2), 183. He might sometimes seem to be at an idle end.

321 1884.  Illust. Lond. News, 11 Oct., 338/3. She … had Shakespeare and Milton at her tongue’s end.

322 1884.  Graphic, 23 Aug., 198/2. Her mother has to contrive to make both ends meet.

323   IV.  25. Comb., chiefly attrib. with sense ‘placed at the end’ or ‘last used’; as end-brush, -bud, -handkerchief, -loop, -man, -parlo(u)r, -shoot, -wall, -wheel; also end-board (see quot.); end-bulb (see quot.); end-game (at chess), (see quot.); end-fast a., fixed on end, standing upright; end-gatherer, a collector of refuse wool; end-grain (attrib.) (of wood) placed with the end of the grain turned outwards; † end-hand, the hand nearest to the end of anything; end-hooping, the hoop that binds the end of a vessel; end-iron, a movable plate in a kitchen range that serves to enlarge or contract the grate; † end-land, ? a frontier region; end-making, conclusion, settlement; end-organ (see quot.); end-piece (see quot.); end-plate, the extreme fibers of a muscle or nerve; end-rib (see quot.); end-shake, a freedom of motion in a spindle at its end; † end-sith [OE. síð fate], death-fate; end-speech, a speech tacked on at the end, an epilogue; end-stone, one of the plates of a watch-jewel supporting a pivot; end-stopping, (of blank verse) a division of the lines, such that they end with a pause or stop; so end-stopped ppl. a.; end-wool, refuse wool.

324 c. 1860.  H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 70. What are the *‘end boards’? They are boards which cover and form the ends of the meetings.

325 1710.  London & Wise, Compl. Gard. (1719), 152. The same course of pinching off *End-Buds is very profitable in Summer also.

326 1879.  Calderwood, Mind & Br., iii. 42. This terminal expansion [of a nerve] is known as an *end-bulb, or touch organ.

327 1535.  Stewart, Cron. Scot. (1858), I. 282. Neir by the boundis of Brigantia thair stude Ane *end fast stane.

328 1884.  Horwitz, in Academy, 12 April, 256/1. The real *end game consists of a position where the method can be analytically demonstrated by which the slightly superior force can win.

329 1764.  Burn, Poor Laws, 53. All *end-gatherers offending against an act of the 13 Geo. c. 23 … shall be deemed incorrigible rogues.

330 1882.  Worc. Exhib. Catal., iii. 41. The flooring is laid in *end-grain sections of pine.

331 1884.  Health Exhib. Catal. (ed. 2), 90/2. End-grain wood pavements, &c.

332 1677.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 17. You must dip your Handle-hand, and mount your *end-hand a little.

333 1753.  Scots Mag., Feb., 100/2. The *end-handkerchiefs would sell as well as the other ten.

334 1712.  J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 90. Fixing the two *End Loops upon the Stakes A and C.

335 a. 1796.  Burns, ed. Merry Muses (1827), 25 (Jam.). She sprung an *end hoopin’.

336 c. 1200.  Ormin, 17916. Nohht ferr þær inn an *endeland Þatt wass Ennon ȝehatenn.

337 c. 1490.  Plumpton Corr., 82. Beseching your sayd mastership … to be at the *end-making.

338 1884.  Sat. Rev., 7 June, 740/1. At the ends are Bones and Tambo, the *‘end-men.’

339 1878.  Bell, trans. Gegenbaur’s Comp. Anat., 42. Sensory organs are the *end-organs of the sensitive nerves.

340 1824.  Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1858), 228. There is one little *end-parlour, an after-thought of the original builder.

341 1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., Wall-plates, the two-side pieces of a timber frame in a shaft…. The other two pieces are the *end-pieces.

342 1878.  M. Foster, Physiol., III. i. 393. Between the lingual fibres and the *end-plates of the glossal muscular fibres.

343 1884.  Syd. Soc. Lex., End-plate, motorial, the branched, expanded, termination of a nerve fibre or one of its branches on a muscular fibre.

344 1852.  Seidel, Organ, 37. Between the upper and under-board there are six boards, viz., two … called *end-ribs.

345 1881.  Hasluck, Lathe-Work, 169. The face of the pulley … forms the bearing to prevent the *endshake.

346 1858.  Glenny, Gard. Every-day Bk., 89/1. Nearly all the *end-shoots may be safely taken away, for they take up the strength of the plant.

347 c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3777. Alle he [Korah, etc.] sunken ðe erðe wiðin … Swilc *endesið vn-biwen hauen.

348 1884.  F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm. (1892), 129. In most English watches all the escapement pivots run on *end stones.

349 1881.  Athenæum, 23 April, 557/2. Mr. Rhoades’s blank verse … is distinguished … by a frequent tendency to *end-stopping.

350 1877.  Dowden, Shaks. Prim., iv. 39. At first … the verse is *‘end-stopt.’

351 1664.  Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 229. The Flue, Shaft, Fire, and Ash-hole to be without, though joining close to the *End-wall.

352 1848.  App. to Report Dep. Keeper Public Records, IX. 111. The cleft wool to be kept by itself and the *endwool by itself.

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