ENGLISH
REFERENCE

last minute

idiom
Meaning

An arbitrary (non-specific) point in time, too close to a deadline to reasonably begin a critical task.


Examples
SIMPLE

I finished my essay at the last minute.

CONTEXTUAL

They booked their flights at the last minute and paid twice the normal price.

COMPLEX

The proposal, thrown together at the last minute by exhausted interns, was full of errors that any careful review would have caught.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    breathe one's last

    To die.

  2. 02

    cobbler, keep to your last

    One should not criticise matters outside one's field of expertise; one should mind one's business.

  3. 03

    dead last

    Finishing in last place in a competition or ranking, often by a considerable margin to the next to last place finisher or after an exceptionally poor showing or season.

  4. 04

    draw one's last breath

    To die.

  5. 05

    every last

    every; without exception (used for emphasis).

  6. 06

    fall at the last hurdle

    To fail near the end of an activity, a project, etc.

  7. 07

    first and last

    A person's combined given name and surname.

  8. 08

    have seen one's last gum tree

    Of a person, on the edge of death.

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