last
UK /lɑːst/ · US /læst/ adjective, determiner, adverb, verb, noun, proper noun
Forms lasts lasting lasted lasten
- adjective Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind. “Will try to fix it by myself for now: as a last resort, we can always take it to a grease monkey.”
- adjective Most recent, latest, last so far. “The last time I saw him, he was married.”
- adjective Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely, or least preferable. “He is the last person to be accused of theft.”
- adjective Being the only one remaining of its class. “Japan is the last empire.”
- adjective Supreme; highest in degree; utmost.
- adjective Lowest in rank or degree. “Three contestants will win awards, but the last prize is just a book voucher.”
- determiner The (one) immediately before the present. “We went there last year.”
- determiner (of days of the week or months of the year) Closest in the past, or closest but one if the closest was very recent; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) ago, or the most recent instance before seven days (one week) ago. “It's Wednesday, and the party was last Tuesday; that is, not yesterday, but eight days ago.”
- adverb Most recently. “When we last met, he was based in Toronto.”
- adverb (sequence) after everything else; finally “As I arrived last of all, I'll go last to add the butter last.”
- verb (intransitive) To endure, continue over time. “Summer seems to last longer each year.”
- verb (intransitive) To hold out, continue undefeated or entire. “I don't know how much longer we can last without reinforcements.”
- verb (intransitive, slang, of a man) To purposefully refrain from orgasm
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To perform, carry out.
- noun (shoemaking) A tool in the form of a foot on which an item of footwear (such as a boot or shoe) is placed for shaping while it is being manufactured or repaired.
- verb (transitive, shoemaking) To shape (an item of footwear such as a boot or shoe) during its manufacture or repair while it is placed on a last (noun etymology 3, noun sense 1). “to last a boot”
- noun (obsolete) A burden; load; a cargo; freight.
- noun (obsolete) A measure of weight or quantity, varying in designation depending on the goods concerned.
- noun (obsolete) An old English (and Dutch) measure of the carrying capacity of a ship, equal to two tons.
- noun A load of some commodity with reference to its weight and commercial value.
Synonyms
latest most recent finally lastly continue endure survive stopping point finale finis finish conclusion close death end final stage shoemaker's last cobbler's last live live on go hold up hold out concluding final terminal net utmost last-place lowest
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English laste, latst, syncopated variant of latest, both ultimately from Old English latost. Doublet of latest.
From Middle English lasten, from Old English lǣstan, from Proto-West Germanic *laistijan, from Proto-Germanic *laistijaną. Cognate with German leisten (“yield”).
The noun is derived from Middle English lest, leste (“shoemaker’s model shaped like a foot, last”), from Old English lǣste (“shoemaker‘s last”), from Proto-Germanic *laistiz, from *laisǭ (“track, trail”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-eh₂-, from *leys- (“to trace; to track”). Doublet of learn and lore.
The verb is derived from the noun.
* Proto-Germanic *laistaz (“footprint”)
From Middle English last, from Old English hlæst (“burden, load, freight”), from Proto-Germanic *hlastuz (“burden, load, freight”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- (“to put, lay out”). Cognate with West Frisian lêst, Dutch last, German Last, Swedish last, Icelandic lest.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Being after all the others, similarly classed or considered, in time, place, or order of succession; following all the rest; final; hindmost; farthest; as, the last year of a century; the last man in a line of soldiers; the last page in a book; his last chance.
- adjective Next before the present; as, I saw him last week.
- adverb At a time or on an occasion which is the latest of all those spoken of or which have occurred; the last time; as, I saw him last in New York.
- adverb In conclusion; finally.lastly Pleased with his idol, he commends, admires, Adores; and, last, the thing adored desires. Dryden.
Etymology [OE. last, latst, contr. of latest, superl. of late; akin to OS. lezt, lazt, last, D. laatst, G. letzt. See Late, and cf. Latest.]
Etymology [See Last, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “last”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details