devil take the hindmost, the

Idioms and Phrases

Let everyone put his or her own interest first, leaving the unfortunate to their fate. For example, I don't care if she makes it or not—the devil take the hindmost . This expression, first recorded in 1608, probably originated as an allusion to a children's game in which the last (coming “hindmost”) is the loser, and came to mean utter selfishness.