end of one's rope/tether, at the/come to the
at the end of one's rope
and at the end of one's tetherFig. at the limits of one's endurance. I'm at the end of my rope! I just can't go on this way! These kids are driving me out of my mind. I'm at the end of my tether.
See also: end, of, rope
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
at the end of (one's) rope
/tether Out of energy or patience; exhausted or exasperated.
See also: end, of, rope
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
end of one's rope/tether, at the/come to the
To have exhausted one’s resources or abilities. The term alludes to a tethered (roped) animal that can graze only as far as the length of the rope permits. “Being run to the end of his Rope, as one that had no more Excuses to make,” wrote Sir John Chardin in 1686 (The Coronation of Solyman the Third). “I am at the end of my tether” was close to being a cliché by the time Royall Tyler used the line in his comedy The Contrast (first U.S. production in 1787).
See also: come, end, of, rope
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- rope
- (one's) race is run
- end your days/life
- end (one's) days
- daughter out
- make an end of (something)
- sign off
- light at the end of the tunnel
- Who's calling?
- be the end