last-ditch

Related to last-ditch: malcontented, gruntle, ditch digger, unblinking, unsold

last-ditch

Final, usually drastic or risky, with failure as the only alternative. The home team is mounting one last-ditch attempt in the final seconds of the game to try to force an overtime showdown. In a last-ditch effort to avoid a government shutdown, congress has pushed forward a new spending bill.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

last-ditch

COMMON A last-ditch attempt or effort to do something is a final desperate try when everything else has failed. The President has been making a last-ditch attempt to prevent the rebels taking over the city. She gave up all claim on their house and his wealth in a last-ditch attempt to get him back. Note: In this expression, `ditch' means a trench (= long hole in the ground) which has been dug in order to defend a military position. The expression refers to soldiers who are prepared to die in a final effort to defend the position rather than surrender.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • last gasp
  • last-gasp
  • last-gasp effort
  • last burst of fire
  • one final word
  • final call
  • the final curtain
  • attempt
  • a last-ditch stand/attempt/effort
  • a shell game
References in periodicals archive
Reports today suggest she is preparing a last-ditch dash to Brussels to urge a compromise as her ministers already rally around options for a Plan B, including a second referendum.
Theresa May reveals incredible guilty snack she uses to deal with Brexit stress; After months of smears and with the knives out, can you blame her for wanting to smooth the way when Brexit comes to the crunch?
The post Limassol shopkeepers ready to make last-ditch effort to agree with local council appeared first on Cyprus Mail .
Limassol shopkeepers ready to make last-ditch effort to agree with local council
Obama and his Republican challenger Romney have been powering through key swing states in a last-ditch bid for voters ahead of election day Tuesday, when Americans will take to the polls to choose their next president.
Celebrities mobilize for Obama, Romney on Twitter
Under such circumstances in Asia and also for Japan's peace, I am making last-ditch efforts to settle the issue by the end of May,'' Hatoyama told reporters outside his residence in the morning, when asked about the relocation plan of the U.S.
Hatoyama vows to settle Futemma issue as Korea situation unstable
Mr Mann's lawyers failed in a last-ditch attempt to secure a judicial review at the High Court last week.
Riot football fan flies out to jail term
Summary: Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday decided to dispatch two senior negotiators to Egypt in a last-ditch attempt to release a soldier held by Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip.
Olmert in last-ditch attempt to reach prisoners exchange deal with Hamas
UP to 70 disabled workers in Hartlepool are set to strike in a last-ditch effort to prevent their factory closing, it was revealed today.
Remploy strike vote
Doctors use sex drug in last-ditch treatment for baby
Saved by viagra
Ryanair made a last-ditch effort on Friday to persuade Aer Lingus shareholders to accept its takeover bid, repeating a call for job cuts at the airline and accusing management there of misleading investors.
Low Cost Airline News - Europe
The barriers, which can be raised and lowered remotely by CCTV operators, were a last-ditch attempt by Bridgend council to stop people illegally entering the town centre's pedestrianised area.
Town bollards furore
The anti-smoking treaty will eventually become law across Latin America despite last-ditch efforts by the tobacco giants to squelch it.
Clearing the air: Latin American governments are waking up to the cost of their citizens' smoking habit
It certainly must be for the parents of the (mostly) boys who in their teens retreat to their rooms for years at a time, occasionally venturing out to the convenience store for a to-go bento box if their parents are trying last-ditch tough love and are no longer leaving meals outside their bedroom doors.
Withdrawal syndrome
When a last-ditch burst of inspiration leads him to place a personal ad seeking a master (or slave), he finds himself on the brink of a new possibility.
A Year Without Love
To their credit, they played valiantly and with heart in a last-ditch effort to defend their crumbling world.
Broken on the court: when the all-boy band visited the all-girl school
A campaign group hoping to mount a legal challenge over the uncontrolled spreading of polytunnels in the Herefordshire countryside has made a last-ditch appeal for vital funds to pay for its fight.
Polytunnels group in last-ditch funding plea