come to a bad end—die or have a disaster in exceptionally unpleasant circumstances:
- These traitors each came to a bad end. As the Nazis said, they loved the betrayal but not the betrayer.
Cf.: make a good end—die with courage, dignity, etc.:
- You could say he made a good end. A shell-burst caught him as he was ferrying wounded across the river.
come to a dead end—reach a point beyond which no progress can be made:
- Our inquiry came to a dead end when we learned that the woman had left the country.