ending

[en-ding]

noun

1. a bringing or coming to an end; termination; close.

   Putting away the Christmas ornaments marked the ending of the season.

2. the final or concluding part; conclusion.

   a story with a happy ending.

3. death; destruction.

4. Grammar.,  a morpheme, especially an inflection, at the end of a word, as -s in cuts.

5. (not in technical use) any final word part, as the -ow of widow.

ending

/ ˈɛndɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of bringing to or reaching an end

2. the last part of something, as a book, film, etc

3. the final part of a word, esp a suffix

4. chess another word for endgame

Other Word Forms

• unending adjective
• unendingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ending¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English endyng, Old English endung; equivalent to end ¹ + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

He indicated the administration was weighing a cooking oil embargo, writing that ending business with China “having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade” was a possible form of “retribution.”

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New Zealand aims to attract wealthy investors to boost its economy, which contracted by 1.1% for the fiscal year ending in March.

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“Achieving the goal of increasing supply and affordability, potentially ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while also lowering mortgage rates is a much bigger debate.”

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“Achieving the goal of increasing supply and affordability, potentially ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while also lowering mortgage rates is a much bigger debate.”

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Obama, long a supporter of ending gerrymandering, had already endorsed the ballot measure.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• closure 
• completion 
• denouement 
• finale 
• outcome 
• period 
• resolution 

When To Use

What is an ending?

An ending is a conclusion, as in I like stories with a happy ending.An ending is also a time when something is finishing or nearing completion, as in I’m ending my school career with all As. An ending is the opposite of a beginning and is used to mean the conclusion of something. Movies have endings. So do civilizations, like the Roman Empire. We even sometimes refer to a person’s death as an ending. Endings and the reasons or events surrounding them are often intensely studied or debated.Example: I liked the book until the terrible ending where the villain won in the last chapter.