loose end

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loose end

A minor unresolved problem or difficulty, especially a final detail preceding the completion of something: The loose ends of the movie's plot are resolved in its sequel.

Idiom:

at loose ends

Without a clear purpose or regular occupation; unsettled in one's affairs: "At loose ends with family gone ... I joined some clubs thinking to find companionship and enrich my life" (Ruth Daniels).

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

loose end

1. a detail that is left unsettled, unexplained, or incomplete

2. at a loose end without purpose or occupation

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

loose′ end′

Usu., loose ends. an unsettled or unfinished detail.

Idioms:

at loose ends, in an uncertain or unsettled situation or position; without an occupation or plans.

[1540–50]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

loose end - work that is left incomplete

unfinished business

work - activity directed toward making or doing something; "she checked several points needing further work"

Translations

εκκρεμότητα

loose end

n → dettaglio in sospeso
to tie up loose ends (fig) → sistemare gli ultimi dettagli
to be at a loose end (Am) to be at loose ends (fig) → non saper cosa fare

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in classic literature ?

It accounted for his feeling at a loose end whenever he was away from Elizabeth for as much as half an hour.

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His first tribute to it, the great act of his conversion, was his extraordinary existence in the endless forests of the Okhotsk Province, with the loose end of the chain wound about his waist.

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Twelve keen swords must strike simultaneously and with equal power, and each must sever completely and instantly three strands of heavy cable that no loose end fouling a block bring immediate disaster upon the Vanator.

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In a minute the wool was stretched on his hands, and the loose end was ready for Mercy to wind.

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He found a loose end of the clothesline which fastened the logs together, and taking a gold nail from his pocket he bent it nearly double, to form a hook, and tied it to the end of the line.

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Up he clambered a few feet, drew up the loose end after him, unslung his belt, held on with knee and with elbow while he spliced the long, tough leathern belt to the end of the cord: then lowering himself as far as he could go, he swung backwards and forwards until his hand reached the crack, when he left the rope and clung to the face of the cliff.

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I was in the strange position of possessing but two hundred gulden, of being at a loose end, of lacking both a post, the means of subsistence, a shred of hope, and any plans for the future, yet of caring nothing for these things.

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I am convinced that you have told me all that you know, and I am afraid that I shall have to look elsewhere to find the loose end of this little tangle."

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Till then, I am rather at a loose end. My father was always very keen indeed about this place, and very anxious that I should come and stay here for a little time, so I made up my mind to run down.

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Tom, Miss," said Bob, speaking lower and looking serious, "he's as close as a iron biler, he is; but I'm a 'cutish chap, an' when I've left off carrying my pack, an' am at a loose end, I've got more brains nor I know what to do wi', an' I'm forced to busy myself wi' other folks's insides.

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Only half the original rope was there, the balance having been carried off by the angry cat as he bounded away through the jungle with the noose still about his savage neck and the loose end dragging among the underbrush.

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He did not say much, being a man of few words, but he picked up the loose end of the table-cloth and threw it over the thing on the table.