First recorded in 1915–20
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Despite support for the passage of the bill, industry participants are placing a 30% probability that it will pass last minute, Kala says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
After showing worryingly weak early interest, World Cup fans showed up at the last minute to boost Los Angeles hotel occupancy and room rates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Luis Espinola, a 61-year-old hotel employee, put it this way: "With Paraguay you have to suffer until the last minute."
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
"The phone doesn't stop ringing from 08:00 to 20:00 as people look for last minute, same day air-con units," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
One band, Country Joe and the Fish, had been invited at the last minute to fill an empty spot on the Sunday program.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
The Brazil international, 29, scored a last-minute winner as 10-man Spurs beat Chelsea 2-1 in a high-profile friendly in Sydney.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
It’s the same vocabulary Purcell itself uses to describe exactly the kind of last-minute disruption that courts have spent 19 years trying to prevent.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
The flight ended up being canceled because of thunderstorms, the report said, but was one of a number of last-minute requests made by the Vances.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Kerner’s family were already fans—he and his wife had dressed up as Pitbull and Kesha in 2014 for Halloween—and they lucked into last-minute tickets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
As a last-minute precaution, he locked the door and kept the key.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
