end vs take a rain check

end

noun
  • A period of play in which each team throws eight rocks, two per player, in alternating fashion. 

  • An ideal point of a graph or other complex. See End (graph theory) 

  • The most extreme point of an object, especially one that is longer than it is wide. 

  • Result. 

  • The cessation of an effort, activity, state, or motion. 

  • A purpose, goal, or aim. 

  • The terminal point of something in space or time. 

  • One of the yarns of the worsted warp in a Brussels carpet. 

  • Money. 

  • One of the two parts of the ground used as a descriptive name for half of the ground. 

  • That which is left; a remnant; a fragment; a scrap. 

  • Death. 

  • The position at the end of either the offensive or defensive line, a tight end, a split end, a defensive end. 

verb
  • to come to an end 

  • To finish, terminate. 

take a rain check

verb
  • To request or accept a rain check (an agreement from a merchant to honor a special offer, temporarily unavailable, after the expiration date). 

  • In social interactions, to request a deferral of an invitation. To "take a rain check" is a polite way to turn down an engagement, usually with the implication that one is simply postponing it and another time might be acceptable. 

How often have the words end and take a rain check occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )