Brewer's: Tether

He has come to the end of his tether. He has outrun his fortune; he has exhausted all his resources. The reference is to a cable run out to the bitter end (see Bitter End), or to the lines upon lines in whale fishing. If the whale runs out all the lines it gets away and is lost.

Horace calls the end of life “ultima linca rerum, ” the end of the goal, referring to the white chalk mark at the end of a racecourse.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language