The Collaborative International Dictionary
Last \Last\ (l[.a]st), a. [OE. last, latst, contr. of latest, superl. of late; akin to OS. lezt, lazt, last, D. laatst, G. letzt. See Late, and cf. Latest.]
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Being after all the others, similarly classed or considered, in time, place, or order of succession; following all the rest; final; hindmost; farthest; as, the last year of a century; the last man in a line of soldiers; the last page in a book; his last chance.
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God.
--Neh. viii. 18.Fairest of stars, last in the train of night.
--Milton. Next before the present; as, I saw him last week.
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Supreme; highest in degree; utmost.
Contending for principles of the last importance.
--R. Hall. Lowest in rank or degree; as, the a last place finish.
--Pope.-
Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely; having least fitness; as, he is the last person to be accused of theft.
At last, at the end of a certain period; after delay. ``The duke of Savoy felt that the time had at last arrived.''
--Motley.At the last. [Prob. fr. AS. on l[=a]ste behind, following behind, fr. l[=a]st race, track, footstep. See Last mold of the foot.] At the end; in the conclusion. [Obs.] ``Gad, a troop shall overcome him; but he shall overcome at the last.''
--Gen. xlix. 19.Last heir, the person to whom lands escheat for lack of an heir. [Eng.]
--Abbott.On one's last legs, at, or near, the end of one's resources; hence, on the verge of failure or ruin, especially in a financial sense. [Colloq.]
To breathe one's last, to die.
To the last, to the end; till the conclusion.
And blunder on in business to the last.
--Pope.Syn: At Last, At Length.
Usage: These phrases both denote that some delayed end or result has been reached. At length implies that a long period was spent in so doing; as, after a voyage of more than three months, we at Length arrived safe. At last commonly implies that something has occurred (as interruptions, disappointments, etc.) which leads us to emphasize the idea of having reached the end; as, in spite of every obstacle, we have at last arrived.
Wiktionary
adv. to the end, especially to the last survivor in a conflict
Usage examples of "to the last".
If we take Jorth's trail from heah it means we've got to wipe out that rustier gang, or stay to the last man.
The audacious traveler, who shall follow your footsteps to the last, will doubtless find your initials engraved with your own hand upon the center of the earth.
The first three colonies established there by the Spaniards starved to death to the last man, woman, and child.
But then the prince lowered his hands, and turned to the last person on his list.
We will destroy this shit-sitter army to the last soul and level K'Vaern's Cove to the very earth and sow it with salt!
We will destroy this shit-sitter army to the last soul and level K’.
What I didn't know was that at these things he gobbles pastries and the special chosen follow suit and they finish the mixed grill down to the last chop and they are still perfect.
Did you come to hear my discovery that we are still building satellites with circuitry dating back to the last century?
Were the peoples of the Hegemony of Malis to survive to the last moment of the heat-death, they could never be brother creatures to us.
The rules were that the webmaster only gave up the prize to the last man standing.
The militiamen stood their ground to the last moment and even took out three of the riders with their final volley of bolts.