A person who fights to the very end despite hopelessness or defeat; someone who never surrenders or gives up until the absolute final moment.
Compound from 'bitter' (suggesting harsh, difficult struggle) and 'ender' (one who endures to the end). The term gained prominence during the Second Boer War to describe soldiers who continued fighting past the point of military defeat.
During the Second Boer War, 'bitter-enders' were guerrilla fighters who refused to surrender even when their cause seemed lost—their stubborn resistance introduced this term into English military vocabulary and influenced how we think about warfare psychology.
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