bookend

English

A simple sheet-metal bookend

Etymology

book +‎ end

Noun

bookend (plural bookends)

1. A heavy object or moveable support placed at one or both ends of a row of books for the purpose of keeping them upright.
2. (figurative) Something that comes before, after, or at both sides of something else.
   • 2012, Kelly Fiveash, Snooper's-charter plans are just misunderstood, sniffles tearful May, on The Register [1]

     The cabinet minister's appearance served as something of a bookend to her grilling by the Home Affairs select committee in April this year […]

Translations

object designed to keep books upright

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 書擋／书挡 (shūdǎng), 书挡 (shūdǎng)

• Danish: bogstøtte c
• Dutch: boekensteun m
• Finnish: kirjatuki
• French: serre-livre (fr) m
• German: Buchstütze (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: bókastoð f
• Italian: reggilibro (it) m
• Japanese: ブックエンド (bukkuendo), 本立て (hondate)
• Norwegian: bokstøtte
• Russian: книгодержа́тель (ru) m (knigoderžátelʹ), подпо́рка для книг f (podpórka dlja knig)
• Spanish: sujetalibros m
• Swedish: bokstöd (sv) n

Verb

bookend (third-person singular simple present bookends, present participle bookending, simple past and past participle bookended)

1. (transitive) To come before and after, or at both sides of.
   • 2006, Henry Owings & Patton Oswalt, The Overrated Book‎^[2], →ISBN, page 105:

     Side one has good songs bookended by better songs.

   • 2015 October 4, Mark Kermode, “Macbeth review – a spittle-flecked Shakespearean war film”, in The Observer‎^[3]:

     The tale is bookended by battles – faces meatily pummelled, bones crunchily broken and throats spurtingly sliced as offstage conflicts are placed centre-screen.

Synonyms

• flank