Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Coming after all others in time, order, or place: The final item or person in a sequence.
   • Most recent; immediately preceding the present: Referring to the time period just before now.
   • Only remaining: The sole item or person left.
   • Conclusive; definitive: Not to be altered or undone; final.
   • Most extreme or least likely: The least suitable or most improbable.

2. Adverb:

   • After all others in time or order: At the final point in a sequence.
   • On the most recent occasion: Referring to the most recent time something happened.

3. Noun:

   • The person or thing that comes after all others: The final one in a series.
   • The end or final part of something: The concluding moments or portion.
   • A unit of measurement: A historical unit for weight or capacity.
   • A model of a foot used in shoemaking: A form for shaping shoes.

4. Verb:

   • To continue for a specified period of time: To endure, persist, or remain in existence.
   • To be sufficient for a period of time: To be enough to meet needs.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • She was the last person to leave the room.
  • I saw him last Thursday.
  • This is my last dollar.
  • The judge's decision is last and cannot be appealed.
  • He is the last person I would trust with a secret.

• Adverb:

  • He arrived last.
  • When did you last see her?

• Noun:

  • He was the last to finish the race.
  • I missed the last of the movie.
  • He breathed his last. (idiomatic for died)

• Verb:

  • The meeting lasted for two hours.
  • Our supplies will last through the winter.

Advanced Usage

• "To have the last word": To make the final statement in an argument, often implying a decisive or unanswerable point.

  • She always has to have the last word in every discussion.

• "Last but not least": An idiom used to introduce the final item in a list, emphasizing that it is not less important than the others.

  • And last but not least, I'd like to thank my family.

• "On one's last legs": An idiom meaning very tired, near failure, or near the end of life.

  • My old car is on its last legs.

Variants and Related Words

• Lastly (adverb): Used to introduce a final point.

  • Lastly, I would like to thank our sponsors.

• Lasting (adjective): Continuing for a long time; enduring.

  • They formed a lasting friendship.

• Last-ditch (adjective): Done as a final, desperate attempt.

  • It was a last-ditch effort to save the company.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Final, ultimate, concluding, most recent, latest, terminal.
• Verb: Endure, persist, continue, survive, hold out.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Last out: To endure or survive a difficult period.
  • The team lasted out the season despite many injuries.

Related Idioms

• "The last straw": The final problem in a series that makes a situation unbearable.

  • When he was late again, it was the last straw.

• "To see the last of someone/something": To see someone or something for the final time.

  • I hope we've seen the last of that terrible weather.

• "At long last": Finally, after a long wait.

  • At long last, the project is complete.

Adjective

1. lowest in rank or importance
   • last prize
   • in last place
2. not to be altered or undone
   • the judge's decision is final
   • the arbiter will have the last say
3. highest in extent or degree
   • to the last measure of human endurance
   • whether they were accomplices in the last degree or a lesser one was...to be determined individually
4. conclusive in a process or progression
   • the final answer
   • a last resort
   • the net result
5. occurring at the time of death
   • his last words
   • the last rites
6. most unlikely or unsuitable
   • the last person we would have suspected
   • the last man they would have chosen for the job
7. occurring at or forming an end or termination
   • his concluding words came as a surprise
   • the final chapter
   • the last days of the dinosaurs
   • terminal leave
8. coming after all others in time or space or degree or being the only one remaining
   • the last time I saw Paris
   • the last day of the month
   • had the last word
   • waited until the last minute
   • he raised his voice in a last supreme call
   • the last game of the season
   • down to his last nickel
9. immediately past
   • last Thursday
   • the last chapter we read

Adverb

1. the item at the end
   • last, I'll discuss family values
2. most_recently
   • I saw him last in London

Noun

1. holding device shaped like a human foot that is used to fashion or repair shoes
2. the concluding parts of an event or occurrence
   • the end was exciting
   • I had to miss the last of the movie
3. a unit of capacity for grain equal to 80 bushels
4. a unit of weight equal to 4,000 pounds
5. the time at which life ends; continuing until dead
   • she stayed until his death
   • a struggle to the last
6. a person's dying act; the final thing a person can do
   • he breathed his last
7. the last or lowest in an ordering or series
   • he was the last to leave
   • he finished an inglorious last
8. the temporal end; the concluding time
   • the stopping point of each round was signaled by a bell
   • the market was up at the finish
   • they were playing better at the close of the season

Verb

1. continue to live through hardship or adversity
   • We went without water and food for 3 days
   • These superstitions survive in the backwaters of America
   • The race car driver lived through several very serious accidents
   • how long can a person last without food and water?
2. persist for a specified period of time
   • The bad weather lasted for three days