Idioms bring a vibrant and imaginative flair to our language, transforming mundane conversations into something far more engaging and colorful. When it comes to describing the act of ending something—whether it’s a project, a relationship, a task, or even a phase of life—idioms offer a creative way to express closure, finality, of the conclusion of an endeavor. In this comprehensive listicle, we’ll explore 54 idioms that capture the essence of bringing things to a close, each with its unique nuance and charm. So, let’s dive into this extensive collection, unpack their meanings, and discover how these expressions can add a touch of sparkle to discussions about endings.
What is an Idiom for Ending Something?
Idioms for ending something are figurative expressions that use metaphorical language to describe the act of concluding, terminating, or bringing closure to various situations, tasks, or relationships. These idioms make conversations more dynamic, relatable, and often inject a bit of humor or poignancy into the dialogue. Below, we’ll explore each idiom, provide its meaning, and illustrate its use with a detailed sentence to give you a clear understanding of how it fits into everyday language.
Idioms for Ending Something
1. Call It a Day
Meaning: To decide to stop working or engaging in an activity for the day, often due to tiredness or completion.
In a Sentence: After hours of brainstorming ideas for the marketing campaign, the team decided to call it a day and resume their efforts tomorrow morning.
2. Pull the Plug
Meaning: To abruptly end or cancel something, such as a project, plan, or activity, often decisively.
In a Sentence: When the company realized the product wasn’t gaining traction in the market, they chose to pull the plug on its development to cut their losses.
3. Draw a Line Under It
Meaning: To put an end to something and move on, often to signify closure or resolution.
In a Sentence: After months of negotiations that led nowhere, both parties agreed to draw a line under the deal and explore other opportunities.
4. Wrap It Up
Meaning: To finish or complete something, often a task, meeting, or project, in a neat and conclusive manner.
In a Sentence: As the meeting ran over time, the manager urged everyone to wrap it up so they could all get home to their families.
5. Tie Up Loose Ends
Meaning: To complete the final details or unresolved aspects of a task or project to ensure it’s fully finished.
In a Sentence: Before leaving her job, Sarah spent her last week tying up loose ends, ensuring all her responsibilities were handed over smoothly.
6. Put the Kibosh On
Meaning: To put an end to something, often abruptly or forcefully, preventing it from continuing.
In a Sentence: The sudden budget cuts put the kibosh on the company’s plans to expand their operations overseas.
7. Bring Down the Curtain
Meaning: To conclude or end something, often used in the context of performances, events, or significant undertakings.
In a Sentence: After a spectacular season of performances, the theater company brought down the curtain on their final show with a standing ovation.
8. Close the Book On
Meaning: To definitively end something, often a chapter of life, a project, or an issue, with no intention of revisiting it.
In a Sentence: After years of unresolved disputes, the family decided to close the book on their feud and start anew.
9. Cut It Short
Meaning: To end something abruptly or before it was expected to conclude, often due to time constraints or necessity.
In a Sentence: The presenter had to cut her speech short when the fire alarm unexpectedly went off in the building.
10. Put to Bed
Meaning: To finalize or complete something, often with a sense of relief or satisfaction, as if tucking it away.
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In a Sentence: After weeks of intense editing, the author was thrilled to finally put the manuscript to bed and send it to the publisher.
11. Drop the Curtain
Meaning: To bring an event, situation, or activity to a close, often with a dramatic or final flourish.
In a Sentence: With the championship game concluded, the organizers dropped the curtain on the tournament with a dazzling awards ceremony.
12. Throw in the Towel
Meaning: To give up or surrender, admitting defeat or acknowledging that continuing is futile.
In a Sentence: After struggling with the complex software for hours, he decided to throw in the towel and seek help from a professional.
13. Wind Down
Meaning: To gradually bring something to an end or reduce its intensity, often in a relaxed or controlled manner.
In a Sentence: As the semester came to a close, the professor began to wind down the lectures, focusing on review sessions instead.
14. Shut the Door On
Meaning: To decisively end or eliminate the possibility of something continuing or happening again.
In a Sentence: By rejecting the merger offer, the company effectively shut the door on any future collaboration with their competitor.
15. Hang Up One’s Boots
Meaning: To retire or stop participating in an activity, often related to a career or sport, signaling the end of involvement.
In a Sentence: After a stellar 20-year career, the legendary footballer decided to hang up his boots and pursue coaching instead.
16. Bite the Dust
Meaning: To fail, collapse, or come to an end, often dramatically or unexpectedly.
In a Sentence: The startup’s ambitious project bit the dust when their primary investor withdrew funding at the last minute.
17. Turn the Page
Meaning: To move on from a situation or experience, often with a sense of starting fresh or leaving the past behind.
In a Sentence: After the painful breakup, she was ready to turn the page and embrace new opportunities in her life.
18. Burn Bridges
Meaning: To end a relationship or opportunity in a way that makes it impossible to return or reconnect.
In a Sentence: By leaving the company on bad terms, he inadvertently burned bridges with colleagues who could have helped him later.
19. Nail the Coffin Shut
Meaning: To take a final action that ensures something is completely finished or cannot be revived.
In a Sentence: The government’s decision to ban the product nailed the coffin shut on the company’s hopes of recovery.
20. Pass the Baton
Meaning: To hand over responsibility or control of something to someone else, signaling the end of one’s involvement.
In a Sentence: After leading the project successfully, she passed the baton to her colleague to take it to the next phase.
21. Ring Down the Curtain
Meaning: To bring a performance, event, or situation to a formal close, often with a sense of finality.
In a Sentence: With the final speech delivered, the conference organizers rang down the curtain on the annual event.
22. Lay to Rest
Meaning: To resolve, conclude, or put an end to something, often a concern, rumor, or issue, for good.
In a Sentence: The official statement from the CEO laid to rest all speculations about the company’s financial troubles.
23. Cut the Cord
Meaning: To end a dependency or connection, often with someone or something, to achieve independence or closure.
In a Sentence: After years of relying on her parents’ support, she decided to cut the cord and move to a new city on her own.
24. Close the Chapter
Meaning: To end a significant period or phase in life, often with a sense of moving forward.
In a Sentence: Graduating from college felt like closing a chapter, as she eagerly anticipated starting her career.
25. Kick the Bucket
Meaning: A humorous or informal way to refer to dying or coming to an end, often used for people or things.
In a Sentence: The old car finally kicked the bucket after years of faithful service, forcing him to buy a new one.
26. Put the Brakes On
Meaning: To slow down or stop something from progressing, often to prevent further issues or to end it entirely.
In a Sentence: The manager put the brakes on the expansion plans when the budget projections didn’t add up.
27. Draw to a Close
Meaning: To gradually come to an end, often used for events, periods, or activities that conclude naturally.
In a Sentence: As the sun set over the festival, the vibrant celebrations began to draw to a close, leaving everyone with fond memories.
28. Fold Up Shop
Meaning: To close a business, project, or operation, often due to failure or a decision to stop.
In a Sentence: Unable to compete with larger chains, the small bookstore decided to fold up shop after decades in business.
29. Give Up the Ghost
Meaning: To stop functioning or come to an end, often used for machines, efforts, or even life.
In a Sentence: The ancient printer gave up the ghost right before the deadline, forcing the team to find an alternative.
30. Seal the Deal
Meaning: To finalize an agreement or arrangement, effectively ending negotiations or discussions.
In a Sentence: After weeks of back-and-forth, they sealed the deal with a handshake and moved forward with the partnership.
31. Shut Down
Meaning: To completely stop or close an operation, system, or activity, often permanently.
In a Sentence: The factory was shut down after years of declining profits, leaving the workers to seek new employment.
32. Pack It In
Meaning: To stop doing something or give up, often due to frustration or exhaustion.
In a Sentence: After hours of trying to solve the puzzle, she decided to pack it in and try again the next day.
33. Call It Quits
Meaning: To decide to stop or give up on something, often a job, relationship, or effort.
In a Sentence: After years of struggling to make the relationship work, they mutually agreed to call it quits.
34. Break Off
Meaning: To abruptly end a relationship, discussion, or activity, often with a sense of severance.
In a Sentence: The two companies broke off their merger talks when they couldn’t agree on the terms.
35. Cash in One’s Chips
Meaning: To withdraw from an activity, often with a sense of finality, or to die (informal).
In a Sentence: After a successful career, she decided to cash in her chips and retire to a quiet countryside life.
36. Lower the Boom
Meaning: To take decisive action to stop or end something, often with authority or force.
In a Sentence: The principal lowered the boom on the disruptive behavior by enforcing stricter rules in the classroom.
37. Turn Out the Lights
Meaning: To close or end something, often a business or event, with a sense of finality.
In a Sentence: With the final performance over, the theater crew turned out the lights, marking the end of the season.
38. Drop the Ball
Meaning: To fail to complete or follow through on something, effectively ending progress.
In a Sentence: He dropped the ball on the group project, forcing the others to scramble to meet the deadline.
39. Reach the End of the Line
Meaning: To come to the final point or conclusion of something, with no further possibilities.
In a Sentence: After years of declining sales, the company reached the end of the line and filed for bankruptcy.
40. Put Out to Pasture
Meaning: To retire someone or something, often because they are no longer useful or productive.
In a Sentence: The old machinery was put out to pasture, replaced by newer, more efficient models.
41. Close Up Shop
Meaning: To end a business, project, or activity, often permanently, similar to shutting down.
In a Sentence: The restaurant had to close up shop when the owner could no longer afford the rising rent.
42. Fade Away
Meaning: To gradually disappear or come to an end, often naturally or without fanfare.
In a Sentence: As newer technologies emerged, the once-popular app began to fade away into obscurity.
43. Run Its Course
Meaning: To naturally come to an end after completing its expected duration or purpose.
In a Sentence: The temporary initiative ran its course, achieving its goals before being discontinued.
44. Sign Off
Meaning: To formally conclude or end something, often with an official acknowledgment.
In a Sentence: The radio host signed off for the last time, marking the end of her long-running show.
45. Bow Out
Meaning: To withdraw or retire gracefully from an activity, role, or competition.
In a Sentence: After a distinguished tenure, the CEO decided to bow out and let younger leadership take over.
46. Put the Lid On
Meaning: To bring something to a definitive end, often to prevent further issues or escalation.
In a Sentence: The new regulations put the lid on the company’s risky financial practices.
47. Cross the Finish Line
Meaning: To complete a task, project, or goal, often with a sense of achievement.
In a Sentence: After months of hard work, the team crossed the finish line by delivering the project on time.
48. End on a High Note
Meaning: To conclude something in a positive, successful, or impressive manner.
In a Sentence: The concert ended on a high note with an encore performance that left the audience cheering.
49. Go Belly Up
Meaning: To fail or collapse completely, often used for businesses or projects.
In a Sentence: The startup went belly up when it couldn’t secure enough funding to continue operations.
50. Slam the Door Shut
Meaning: To decisively and forcefully end something, leaving no room for continuation.
In a Sentence: Her resignation letter slammed the door shut on any possibility of returning to the company.
51. Wave Goodbye
Meaning: To say farewell or end something, often with a sense of departure or closure.
In a Sentence: As the ship sailed away, they waved goodbye to their old lives and embraced the journey ahead.
52. Cap It Off
Meaning: To conclude something in a fitting or satisfactory way, often as a final touch.
In a Sentence: The team capped off their successful season with a victory in the championship game.
53. Knock It on the Head
Meaning: To stop or end something abruptly, often informally.
In a Sentence: They decided to knock the failing project on the head before it consumed more resources.
54. Put a Full Stop
Meaning: To bring something to a complete and final end, often with emphasis on closure.
In a Sentence: After years of debate, the council put a full stop to the controversial development plans.
Quizzes About The Idioms in The Article
Quiz 1: Call It a Day
What does the idiom “Call it a day” mean?
a) To start a new task
b) To stop working for the day
c) To extend working hours
d) To plan for tomorrow
Quiz 2: Pull the Plug
What is the meaning of “Pull the plug”?
a) To start a new project
b) To abruptly end something
c) To fix a problem
d) To delay a decision
Quiz 3: Tie Up Loose Ends
When someone says, “Tie up loose ends,” what are they referring to?
a) Completing final details of a task
b) Starting a new project
c) Ignoring small issues
d) Delegating responsibilities
Quiz 4: Throw in the Towel
What does the idiom “Throw in the towel” suggest?
a) To continue fighting
b) To give up or admit defeat
c) To start over
d) To celebrate success
Quiz 5: Burn Bridges
What situation is described by the idiom “Burn bridges”?
a) Building new relationships
b) Ending connections irreparably
c) Maintaining good ties
d) Starting a collaboration
Quiz 6: Close the Book On
If someone is “closing the book on” something, what does it mean?
a) They are starting a new chapter
b) They are ending something definitively
c) They are reading a book
d) They are revising a plan
Quiz 7: Cut the Cord
What does the expression “Cut the cord” imply?
a) Ending a dependency or connection
b) Starting a new relationship
c) Repairing a connection
d) Continuing reliance
Quiz 8: Nail the Coffin Shut
When is it appropriate to say, “Nail the coffin shut”?
a) When starting a new venture
b) When ensuring something is completely finished
c) When planning a revival
d) When delaying a decision
Quiz 9: Pass the Baton
What is the meaning of “Pass the baton”?
a) To start a race
b) To hand over responsibility
c) To keep control
d) To end a competition
Quiz 10: End on a High Note
When someone advises to “end on a high note,” what are they encouraging?
a) To conclude negatively
b) To finish successfully or positively
c) To delay the ending
d) To restart the task
Answers:
- b
- b
- a
- b
- b
- b
- a
- b
- b
- b
Conclusion
Idioms for ending something are like linguistic fireworks, adding color, depth, and personality to how we describe closure and finality. Whether you’re wrapping up a project, saying goodbye to a phase of life, or shutting the door on an opportunity, these 54 idioms offer a rich tapestry of expressions to make your conversations more vivid and memorable. Sprinkle them into your discussions to bring a touch of creativity, humor, or poignancy to the art of ending things.