Search Result for "bitter end":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. the final extremity (however unpleasant it may be);
- Example: "he was determined to fight to the bitter end"

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



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bitter \Bit"ter\, n. [See Bitts.] (Naut.)
   AA turn of the cable which is round the bitts.
   [1913 Webster]

   Bitter end, that part of a cable which is abaft the bitts,
      and so within board, when the ship rides at anchor.
      [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

bitter end
    n 1: the final extremity (however unpleasant it may be); "he was
         determined to fight to the bitter end"
    2: (nautical) the inboard end of a line or cable especially the
       end that is wound around a bitt