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

She pushed through her last mile and collapsed into bed to recharge for what lay ahead: two days at a conference, where she delivered a keynote address and networked with prospective customers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

AWS Interconnect – last mile enables companies to establish private, high-speed connections from branch offices, data centers, or remote sites directly to AWS using a console and portal.

From Barron's ● Apr. 15, 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

But the last mile of inflation has proved difficult.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 6, 2025

Gilly had thought she hated all schools so much that they no longer could pain or disappoint her, but she felt heavier with each step—like a condemned prisoner walking an endless last mile.

From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson