Even at the end, was bound to (4)
I believe the answer is:
tied
'even' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'the end was bound to' is the wordplay.
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'end' suggests removing the centre (I've seen 'ends' mean this).
'was' becomes 'existed' (past tense of to be - to exist).
'bound' indicates putting letters inside.
'to' becomes 'i' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'existed' with its centre removed is 'ed'.
't'+'ed'='ted'
'ted' going around 'i' is 'TIED'.
'at' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tied that I've seen before include "Made bow" , "Bound; placed equal" , "Knotted" , "Bonded" , "have equal scores" .)