Bitter End

The inboard end of a cable or line, especially the end secured aboard a vessel.

For an anchor cable, the bitter end is secured in the chain locker by an arrangement intended to hold it in normal use while allowing emergency release where fitted. The term is also used more generally for the last end of a rope remaining aboard.

The expression “to the bitter end” means continuing until nothing remains. Its precise etymological relationship to bitts—strong deck fittings around which lines were turned—is often discussed, but operationally the term identifies the secured or final inboard end.