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 ) A outrance; with relentless hostility; also applied to affliction, as, she bore it to the bitter end, meaning to the last stroke of adverse fortune All Thy waves have gone over me, but I have borne up under them to the bitter end Here bitter end means the end of the rope The bitter-end is a sea term meaning that part of the cable which is abaft the bitts When there is no windlass the cables are fastened to bitts, that is, pieces of timber so called; and when a rope is payed out to the bitter-end, or to these pieces of timber, all of it is let out, and no more remains However, we read in Prov v 4, Her end is bitter as wormwood, which, after all, may be the origin of the phrase
Usually used in conjunction with "push," as in "pushed to the bitter end," this phrase means not just that the passageway ended, but that it ended in grim or dangerous circumstances
(nautical) the inboard end of a line or cable especially the end that is wound around a bitt the final extremity (however unpleasant it may be); "he was determined to fight to the bitter end