last-ditch effort

Idioms  

1. A desperate final attempt, as in We're making a last-ditch effort to finish on time. This expression alludes to the military sense of last ditch, “the last line of defense.” Its figurative use dates from the early 1800s.

---

Example Sentences

In a last-ditch effort to get back to Duke, Bior obtained a special refugee passport, issued by Uganda, that he hopes will allow him to bypass the South Sudan visa ban.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

Whether the script is an attempt to make up for lost time or a last-ditch effort at staging a career resurgence, Nora isn’t interested.

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2025

I’m making a last-ditch effort to make it work with a financial planner and marriage counselor.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 9, 2025

He is serving a life sentence in U.S. federal prison, and an appeals court denied a last-ditch effort to have his conviction overturned on Jan. 10.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2025

Now the hoodlums were mounting a last-ditch effort to get us out of school before May 29.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals