bookend

American

[book-end] / ˈbʊkˌɛnd /

noun

a support placed at the end of a row of books to hold them upright, usually used in pairs.
one of two things occurring or located at either end of something else.

two events that served as bookends to my career.

verb (used with object)

to occur or be located at the beginning and end of.

His term in office was bookended by crises.

Etymology

Origin of bookend

First recorded in 1905–10; book + end ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The initial reaction to Zscaler’s earnings put the stock on course to bookend the week with sharp declines—who’d be a software investor?

From Barron's

Mustaine felt covering the song would provide a bookend to his career, illustrating exactly where he was before he formed Megadeth.

From Los Angeles Times

“We kind of took that as our inspiration, and we said we have to bookend this grand adventure together,” said Meghan Umber, president of the Hollywood Bowl and chief programming officer at the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s a beautiful revenge, a perfect bookend to how it all began.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023