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• last-gasp
  last-gasp

  noun

  (modifier) done in desperation at the last minute
• last gasp
  last gasp

  The moment before death; also, the end. For example, “Fight till the last gasp” (Shakespeare, 1 Henry VI, 1:2), or He was determined to stay at the party until the last gasp. This idiom alludes to taking one's last breath, literally (first example) or figuratively (second example). [Late 1500s]

last-gasp

British  

noun

1. (modifier) done in desperation at the last minute

   a last-gasp attempt to save the talks

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last gasp Idioms  

1. The moment before death; also, the end. For example, “Fight till the last gasp” (Shakespeare, 1 Henry VI, 1:2), or He was determined to stay at the party until the last gasp. This idiom alludes to taking one's last breath, literally (first example) or figuratively (second example). [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

last-gasp last gasp

The second a blistering last-gasp effort from Ainsley Maitland-Niles introduced for his debut as a substitute.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

England held on to beat Argentina in a chaotic match in the Nations Championship after the hosts had a last-gasp try controversially ruled out in Santiago del Estero.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

Mee gained his reward before North fittingly had the final word when he strolled over for his second try and converted Arata's last-gasp score.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

The former Brighton striker has played just 56 minutes so far but already has three goals - including a last-gasp winner against Ivory Coast - and two assists to his name.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

Partey missed Ghana's last-gasp 1-0 win over Panama in Toronto on Wednesday after his country failed with an appeal against his Canadian visa rejection.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

That proved to be the last gasp for the American attack.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

All these years later, Carrie waits for the show’s last gasp to wrestle with the question that has defined modern dating for millions of single people.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2025

“I think it’s the last gasp of the curse of the Bambino,” Flemming joked.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2025

But the uproar is a sign of something ending—a last gasp from the era of the diligent, human reader who can tell the difference between a real book and a fake one.

From Slate ● May 21, 2025

By 1860, the practice of bleeding a patient is the last gasp of a treatment that goes back to the "bodily humors" theory of the ancient Greeks.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

Related Words

• do-or-die
• frantic
• last-gasp