bookend

1 of 2

noun

book·​end ˈbu̇k-ˌend 

1

: a support placed at the end of a row of books

marble bookends

2

: one of two usually similar things that begin and end something

The second season started with stateside filming that included creating the "bookends," short segments that flank each episode …

—Paula Parisi

The trip has Eastern bookends. It began Monday in Ottawa and ends next Sunday in Atlanta.

—The New York Times

3

: one of two similar players on a team who play on opposite sides of the field or court

… Taylor is playing without bookend outside linebacker Carl Banks, who is sidelined with a wrist injury.

—Peter Kind

bookend

2 of 2

verb

bookended; bookending

transitive verb

1

: to be on both sides or ends of (something or someone) : flank

… dimples bookending his smile.

—Jennifer Kornreich

—often used in passive constructions

… a squat sports arena of concrete and black glass bookended by a pair of massive concrete cylinders …

—Wells Tower

2

a

: to begin and end (something) with two similar things or with the same thing

… Klim and Thorpe had bookended the relay with two of the fastest 100-meter split times ever …

—Alexander Wolff

He bookends his meaty battle narrative with a thorough analysis of Roosevelt's internment policy …

—Jonathan Mahler

b

: to serve as or mark the beginning and ending of (something) : to be the first and last parts or events of (something)

… a movie that, together with All the President's Men, bookends the era of heroic investigative journalism.

—Rand Richards Cooper

—often used in passive constructions

… the period bookended by the Civil War and the civil rights movement.

—Christopher Benfey

The anthology is bookended by an introductory essay by the editors … and an epilogue …

—C. L. Salter

Examples of bookend in a Sentence

Noun

a pair of bookends shaped like horses

He used an empty flowerpot as a bookend.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

When the project is complete, two new buildings more than 100 feet tall will sit like bookends on either side of the Hall of Fame pools and dive tower. —Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 9 Dec. 2024

Oh, Canada, based on the 2021 novel Foregone by Russell Banks — may yet be viewed as a bookend, telling a similar story of a man forced into a reckoning with his own ego. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 4 Dec. 2024

Verb

The two covers on Help! bookend side two of the album in ways that feel integral to the running order. —Al Shipley, SPIN, 4 Dec. 2024

Those schlocky iris transitions that bookend our glimpses of Jonathan’s timeline, for example, echo the opening and closing of his camera aperture. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1907, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1956, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bookend

noun

book·​end -ˌend 

: something placed at the end of a row of books to hold them up