last resort

last resort

The only remaining option that may help one or be of any use after all other options have been exhausted. I didn't really want to ask Mr. Stadler to write my college recommendation, but he's my last resort at this point.
See also: last, resort
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

last resort

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]
See also: last, resort
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

(as) a last reˈsort

a thing you decide to do when everything else has failed: Nobody wanted to lend me the money. As a last resort I asked my brother-in-law, and luckily he was able to help me.
See also: last, resort
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a last resort
  • be (one's) last resort
  • (there's) no peace for the weary
  • (there's) no rest for the weary
  • groggified
  • dig deep
  • choose between (two people or things)
  • choose between two people or things
  • (one's) nerves are shot
  • get to the top
References in periodicals archive
The post His candidacy should be last resort, Kyprianou says appeared first on Cyprus Mail .
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said that this device can be used in similar situations across the country but only as a last resort. He told (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/07/09/bomb-robot-could-used-again but-only-last-resort/86892798/) USA Today , "The key thing is to keep our police out of harm's way, and this was able to do that and accomplish the tactical objectives we had."
United Left Alliance TD Joan Collins criticised the move saying proposals to tackle mortgage arrears promised repossessions would be a last resort.
Unfortunately Last Resort's first few episodes can't maintain a tight ship; the writers' efforts seem to be devoted to spinning out intrigue across the season rather than exploring hypotheticals about the consequences of bellicose American imperialism.
In reality, the European Central Bank is still far from becoming the official "lender of last resort" of the euro-zone area, something that would be more than natural in a currency union.
"The deployment of armed forces and the use specifically of military means are also only permissible as a last resort in such a situation," the judges said.
says, in a report titled "Residual Market Property Plans: From Markets of Last Resort to Markets of First Choice," that from 1990 to 2011, policy counts in FAIR and beach and windstorm plans have grown from 931,550 to 3.3 million.
The union described the move as the "last resort in a long battle" and will tomorrow meet to discuss what action can be taken.
As its outgoing president, Jean-Claude Trichet, put it, the ECB has "only one needle on [its] compass, and that is inflation." The ECB's refusal to be a lender of last resort forced the creation of a surrogate institution, the European Financial Stability Mechanism.
Lagarde added that the state should only be involved in bank recapitalisations as a last resort.
We wonder, isn't direction the last resort for flop actors?
DURHAM and England bowler Graham Onions' career hangs in the balance as he prepares to undergo 'last resort' back surgery.
On the other hand, he argues, we should retain a central bank able and ready to act as a lender of last resort because it benefits the public by lowering the commercial banks' costs of intermediation.
Entitled The Last Resort, the show was set in a Holiday Camp in the 1950s, similar to the one in the TV comedy Hi-de-Hi!