end up

phrasal verb

ended up; ending up; ends up
: to reach or come to a place, condition, or situation that was not planned or expected
The book ended up in the trash.
He didn't want to end up like his father.
She ended up a rich woman.
He ended up (living) in a nursing home.
The movie we wanted to see was sold out so we ended up seeing a different one.

Examples of end up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In many if not most such cases, the artist or their estate got nothing: These items ended up in the hands of people who knew how to monetize them, and the profits went to the seller and the auction house, which commonly takes 20-30% of the sale price. Jem Aswad, Variety, 21 May 2024 His father, who's 85, ended up in the hospital overnight. Ashley Milne-Tyte, NPR, 21 May 2024 Zola ended up being tried for libel and forced into exile from France. Maurice Samuels / Made By History, TIME, 21 May 2024 The Haitian customs inspectors and eight anti-drug trafficking cops ended up finding one box with weapons inside the container. Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 21 May 2024 In the end, Mr. Milken, too, would end up in prison and pay an even bigger fine, $600 million. Leslie Wayne, New York Times, 20 May 2024 Those who rely on safety net programs such as Medicaid or community health centers that are federally qualified often end up on wait lists and struggle to get timely dental appointments. Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, 20 May 2024 Powered by Qualcomm chips, many of the computers will end up in the hands of workers at big organizations looking to refresh their inventory, said Gartner analyst Jason Wong. Matt O'Brien, Fortune, 20 May 2024 Sadly, however, in an inversion of the natural order of gemstone generation, that’s the pearl of emotional truth that ends up encrusted in the grit and sludge of less-imaginative-than-usual storytelling and tired ideas (for Cronenberg), as well as flat performances. Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 May 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'end up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near end up

Cite this Entry

“End up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/end%20up. Accessed 28 May. 2024.

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