BITTEREND

bitter end

Noun

  1. that part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains inboard when a ship is riding at anchor
    Note: To pay out a rope to the bitter end means to pay it all out
  2. The end of a long and difficult process.
  3. the final six fathoms of anchor chain before the point of attachment in the chain locker of modern U.S.naval vessels, with these six fathoms often painted blue, white and red to warn deck hands of the end of available anchor chain.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: bitter end
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

Need help with a clue?
Try your search in the crossword dictionary!