last resort

Idioms  

1. A final expedient or recourse to achieve some end or settle a difficulty. For example, If you don't improve, we'll try this new medication as a last resort. This term originally referred to a court of law from which there was no appeal. [Late 1600s]

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Example Sentences

Some teenagers feel betrayed by the bans, which mall owners implement as a last resort despite courting Gen Z shoppers.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

Campa-Najjar argues military force should be a last resort and must be authorized by Congress, while warning against unilateral actions that “escalate conflict without accountability.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs said removing the bins was a last resort, not a solution.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

Quiet professionals understand that violence is risky and costly, and use it only as a last resort.

From Slate • Apr. 13, 2026

Lee Strunk carried a slingshot; a weapon of last resort, he called it.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien