the end of one's rope
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Completely out of ideas or resources to deal with a situation
Literally: a rope's end
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
After trying everything, she felt like she was at the end of her rope
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “the end of one's rope” mean?
Completely out of ideas or resources to deal with a situation Literally: a rope's end
Is “the end of one's rope” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“trí cùng lực kiệt” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.