last mile

American  

noun

1. the distance walked by a condemned person from their cell to the place of execution.

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last mile Cultural  

1. The phrase used to describe one of the problems in attaining higher-speed, higher-capacity information flow to every household. It refers to the copper telephone wire that still carries information to households. The limited capacity of the wire slows data transmission even though it is possible to send data over high-capacity systems from anywhere in the world to within the “the last mile” (give or take) before the house. The use of cable technology, fiber optic technology, and wireless satellite technology are several of the solutions used to address this problem.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

last mile

The Fed reached the last mile and “got stuck,” said Carola Binder, a professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin.

From MarketWatch ● May 10, 2026

“I think of these cuts as having taken out some insurance to support the labor market as we work to complete the last mile to bring inflation back to target,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

If this drift continues, the Fed may find that the last mile of disinflation is not just difficult, but unreachable.

From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025

"Until last mile connectivity is fixed, I don't foresee anyone landing at one airport and travelling to the other to catch another flight," Mr Anand says.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025

The thousands of miles I had crossed were nothing compared to the last mile or so between the docks and the town of the Tang people, Chinatown.

From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep