bitter end

1. 1.

   the final extremity (however unpleasant it may be)

   “he was determined to fight to the bitter end”

   Broaderextremity
2. 2.

   (nautical) the inboard end of a line or cable especially the end that is wound around a bitt

   Broaderend

   Part ofline

   seafaring

Questions about bitter end

What does bitter end mean?

bitter end means "the final extremity (however unpleasant it may be)". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

Is bitter end a common word?

bitter end is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.