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bitter
bit·ter / ˈbitər/ • adj. 1. having a sharp, pungent taste or smell; not sweet: the raw berries have an intensely bitter flavor. ∎ (of chocolate) dark and unsweetened. 2. (of people or their feelings or behavior) angry, hurt, or resentful because of one's bad experiences or a sense of unjust treatment: I don't feel jealous or bitter. 3. harsh or unpleasant, in particular: ∎ (often used for emphasis) painful or unpleasant to accept or contemplate: today's decision has come as a bitter blow. ∎ (of a conflict, argument, or opponent) full of anger and acrimony: a bitter, five-year legal battle. ∎ (of wind, cold, or weather) intensely cold: a bitter wind blowing from the east. • n. 1. [mass noun] Brit. beer that is strongly flavored with hops and has a bitter taste. 2. (bitters) [treated as sing] liquor that is flavored with the sharp pungent taste of plant extracts and is used in cocktails or to promote appetite or digestion. PHRASES: to the bitter end used to say that one will continue doing something until it is finished, no matter what: the workers would fight to the bitter end for safer conditions. DERIVATIVES: bit·ter·ly adv. bit·ter·ness n. |
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"bitter." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bitter." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-bitter.html "bitter." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-bitter.html |
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bitter
bitter, in the days of sail the name given to any turn of a ship's anchor cable about its bitts. Hence a ship is ‘brought up to a bitter’ when the cable is allowed to run out to that turn around the bitts or cable stoppers, its modern equivalent. The bitter end was that part of the anchor cable abaft the bitts which remained aboard when a ship was riding to its anchor. To pay a rope or chain out to the bitter end, a phrase now more commonly used ashore to denote the extremity of a situation, meant that all was paid out and no more remained to be let go. Bend to the bitter end meant to reverse a cable, to bend the inboard end of it to the anchor so that the strain on the cable came on a part of it that had been less used and was therefore more trustworthy.
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"bitter." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bitter." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-bitter.html "bitter." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-bitter.html |
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bitter
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T. F. HOAD. "bitter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "bitter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-bitter.html T. F. HOAD. "bitter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-bitter.html |
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bitter
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "bitter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "bitter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-bitter1.html T. F. HOAD. "bitter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-bitter1.html |
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bitter
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DAVID A. BENDER. "bitter." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAVID A. BENDER. "bitter." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-bitter.html DAVID A. BENDER. "bitter." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-bitter.html |
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bitter
bitter
•bitter, committer, critter, embitter, emitter, fitter, flitter, fritter, glitter, gritter, hitter, jitter, knitter, litter, permitter, pitta, quitter, remitter, sitter, skitter, slitter, spitter, splitter, submitter, titter, transmitter, twitter, witter
•drifter, grifter, lifter, shifter, sifter, snifter, uplifter
•constrictor, contradictor, depicter, dicta, evictor, inflicter, predictor, victor
•filter, kilter, philtre (US philter), quilter, tilter
•Jacinta, midwinter, Minter, Pinta, Pinter, printer, splinter, sprinter, tinter, winter
•sphincter
•assister, ballista, bistre (US bister), blister, enlister, glister, lister, mister, resistor, Sandinista, sister, transistor, tryster, twister, vista
•trickster
•minster, spinster
•hipster, quipster, tipster
•cohabiter • arbiter • presbyter
•exhibitor, inhibitor, prohibiter
•Manchester • Chichester • Silchester
•Rochester • Colchester
•creditor, editor, subeditor
•auditor • Perdita • taffeta • shopfitter
•forfeiter • outfitter • counterfeiter
•register • marketer
•cricketer, picketer
•Alistair • weightlifter • filleter
•fillister • shoplifter
•diameter, heptameter, hexameter, parameter, pentameter, tetrameter
•Axminster • Westminster
•limiter, perimeter, scimitar, velocimeter
•accelerometer, anemometer, barometer, gasometer, geometer, manometer, micrometer, milometer, olfactometer, optometer, pedometer, photometer, pyrometer, speedometer, swingometer, tachometer, thermometer
•Kidderminster • janitor
•banister, canister
•primogenitor, progenitor, senator
•administer, maladminister, minister, sinister
•monitor • per capita • carpenter
•spanakopita • Jupiter • trumpeter
•character • barrister • ferreter
•teleprinter
•chorister, forester
•interpreter, misinterpreter
•capacitor • ancestor • Exeter
•stepsister
•elicitor, solicitor
•babysitter • house-sitter • bullshitter
•competitor • catheter • harvester
•riveter • banqueter • non sequitur
•loquitur
•inquisitor, visitor
•compositor, expositor
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"bitter." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "bitter." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-bitter.html "bitter." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-bitter.html |
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