ter·mi·na·tion (tûr m -n  shn)n. 1. The act of terminating or the condition of being terminated. 2. a. The end of something in time; the conclusion. b. An end of something in space; a limit or edge. 3. A result; an outcome. 4. Linguistics The end of a word, as a suffix, inflectional ending, or final morpheme. ter mi·nation·al adj. |
termination [ˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən]
Termination
(See also CESSATION, COMPLETION, CULMINATION, THWARTING.)
bitter end A difficult or disagreeable conclusion; the last or ultimate extremity; death; often in the phrase to thebitter end. According to Captain John Smith’s A Sea Grammar (1627):
A bitter is but the turn of a cable about the bits, and wear it out by little and little. And the bitters end is that part of the cable doth stay within board.
William Henry Smyth in The Sailor’s Word-book (1867) elaborates further:
A ship is “brought up to a bitter”when the cable is allowed to run out to that stop…. When a chain or rope is paid out to the bitter-end, no more remains to be let go.
A variation of the phrase bitter end appears in the Bible (Proverbs 5:4) and some conjecture this usage, rather than the nautical, to be its origin.
But her end is bitter as wormwood.
The phrase gave rise to the term bitter-ender ‘a diehard,’ in use since 1850.
curtains The end, usually a disastrous or unfortunate one; most often, death itself. This slang term, of obvious theatrical derivation, is often used to indicate the end of some illegitimate enterprise, and as such is similar to expressions such as the jig is up.
It looked like curtains for Ezra then and there. But just that moment he saw a chance of salvation. (Jesse Lilienthal, Horse Crazy, 1941)
[one’s] days are numbered See ILL HEALTH.
in the homestretch In the final stages; nearing the completion of a project, ordeal, activity, or other matter; the denouement. In racing terminology, the homestretch is the last leg of a race, i.e., the straight part of a racecourse from the last turn to the finish line. Figurative use of this Americanism was recorded as early as the mid-19th century. It usually suggests some degree of relief because in the homestretch, the end is in sight.
Already we see the slave states … on the homestretch to become free. (Congressional Globe, March 12, 1864)
the jig is up This is it, it’s all over, this is the end of the line; usually used in reference to being caught or discovered in some wrongdoing. This slang or dialectal expression, which dates from the late 1700s, derives from the obsolete ‘prank, joke, trick’ meaning of jig.
lower the boom See PUNISHMENT.
nip in the bud To terminate a project, plan, or other matter in its early stages; to prevent or stop something before it has had a chance to develop. A bud is an undeveloped part of a plant which, if nipped by frost, pests, or a zealous gardener, does not grow to fruition; hence the expression.
Dost thou approach to censure our delights, and nip them in the bud? (Sir Aston Cokaine, Masque, 1639)
quit cold turkey To stop abruptly and completely the habitual use of alcohol, tobacco, or drugs without substituting nonaddicting alternatives; to terminate any habit suddenly. Although both the origin of this phrase and the rationale for turkey are uncertain, quit cold turkey clearly implies an abrupt cessation as opposed to a gradual tapering off as a means of ridding one-self of an unwanted behavior or addiction. One theory as to the origin of the phrase holds that when a drug addict stops taking drugs, among the (often severe) withdrawal symptoms is horripilation of the skin (goose bumps) accompanied by a cold, blanched complexion. The similarity of appearance to the skin of a turkey prepared for cooking is obvious. Variations are stop cold turkey and go cold turkey.
Cold turkey itself is sometimes used to describe any action or performance undertaken in impromptu fashion, without “warming up,”so to speak. In this usage, however, the phrase is now usually truncated to the simpler cold.
ring down the curtain To terminate or bring to an end. In the theater, the person responsible for raising or lowering the stage curtain once received his cue from the stage manager who would ring a bell at the appropriate moment.
The curtain had to be rung down before the play was ended. (Times, August 31, 1887)
While still used in the theater, ring down the curtain on is applied figuratively in other contexts as well. A variation is the shortened ring down.
The functionary whose business it is to “ring down”had satisfied himself that nobody wanted any more of it. (Daily News, October 2, 1882)
stem the tide To stop, terminate, end; to squash, quell, check; to block or stifle; to nip in the bud. The most plausible conjecture is that stem in this expression is derived from the Icelandic stemma ‘to stop the flow of’; attempts to relate it to the stem of an ocean-going vessel defy logic. Tide implies a flow of events.
Aristophanes evidently saw the tide that was strongly in favour of the new candidate for scenic supremacy, and he vainly tried to stem it by the barrier of his ridicule. (Fred Paley, The Tragedies of Aeschylus, 1855)
| Noun | 1. | termination - a coming to an end of a contract period; "the expiry of his driver's license" |
| 2. |  termination - a place where something ends or is complete | |
| 3. | termination - something that results; "he listened for the results on the radio" conclusion, ending, finish - event whose occurrence ends something; "his death marked the ending of an era"; "when these final episodes are broadcast it will be the finish of the show" denouement - the outcome of a complex sequence of events deal - the type of treatment received (especially as the result of an agreement); "he got a good deal on his car" decision - the outcome of a game or contest; "the team dropped three decisions in a row" decision - (boxing) a victory won on points when no knockout has occurred; "had little trouble in taking a unanimous decision over his opponent" aftermath, consequence - the outcome of an event especially as relative to an individual just deserts, poetic justice - an outcome in which virtue triumphs over vice (often ironically) separation - the termination of employment (by resignation or dismissal) sequel, subsequence - something that follows something else worst - the least favorable outcome; "the worst that could happen" | |
| 4. | termination - the end of a word (a suffix or inflectional ending or final morpheme); "I don't like words that have -ism as an ending" morpheme - minimal meaningful language unit; it cannot be divided into smaller meaningful units inflectional ending, inflectional suffix - an inflection that is added at the end of a root word | |
| 5. | termination - the act of ending something; "the termination of the agreement" abort - the act of terminating a project or procedure before it is completed; "I wasted a year of my life working on an abort"; "he sent a short message requesting an abort due to extreme winds in the area" demonetisation, demonetization - ending something (e.g. gold or silver) as no longer the legal tender of a country change of state - the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics tone ending, release - (music) the act or manner of terminating a musical phrase or tone retirement - withdrawal from your position or occupation relinquishing, relinquishment - the act of giving up and abandoning a struggle or task etc. breakup, dissolution - the termination or disintegration of a relationship (between persons or nations) overthrow - the termination of a ruler or institution (especially by force) adjournment, dissolution - the termination of a meeting dismission, sacking, liberation, firing, dismissal, release, discharge, sack - the termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart) destruction, devastation - the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists abolishment, abolition - the act of abolishing a system or practice or institution (especially abolishing slavery); "the abolition of capital punishment" liquidation, settlement - termination of a business operation by using its assets to discharge its liabilities drug withdrawal, withdrawal - the termination of drug taking closedown, shutdown, closing, closure - termination of operations; "they regretted the closure of the day care center" extinguishing, quenching, extinction - the act of extinguishing; causing to stop burning; "the extinction of the lights" fade, disappearance - gradually ceasing to be visible abortion - termination of pregnancy defusing, deactivation - the act of deactivating or making ineffective (as a bomb) discontinuance, discontinuation - the act of discontinuing or breaking off; an interruption (temporary or permanent) |
termination
ending start, opening, beginning, initiation, inauguration, commencement
termination of employment → baja f, cese m
to have a termination → subir une interruption de grossesse
termination of pregnancy (Brit) (Med) → interruzione f di gravidanza
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