Word.ws English Dictionary

last

UK/lɑːst//læst/

last adjective: final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.

last: final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind
Image: נעמי זינגר, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

last (not comparable)

  1. 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.
    • Eyes Wide Shut was the last film to be directed by Stanley Kubrick.
    Synonyms:
    rear, rearmost, caboose, dernier, final, terminal, ultimate, lattermost;
  2. Most recent, latest, last so far.
    • The last time I saw him, he was married.
    • I have received your note dated the 17th last, and am responding to say that[…]
    Synonyms:
    latest, most recent
  3. 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.
    • The last person I want to meet is Helen.
  4. Being the only one remaining of its class.
    • Japan is the last empire.
  5. Supreme; highest in degree; utmost.
    • Contending for principles of the last importance.1802, Robert Hall, Reflections on War
  6. Lowest in rank or degree.
    • Three contestants will win awards, but the last prize is just a book voucher.
    • In one word then, unless I could unfold the mystery, I will not wish you to consider me but as the last and lowest of mankind.1797 May 8 (first performance), Richard Cumberland, “The Last of the Family. A Comedy.”, in Frances Marianne [Cumberland] Jansen, editor, The Posthumous Dramatick Works of the Late Richard...

Determiner

last

  1. The (one) immediately before the present.
    • We went there last year.
    • I was last to go; you're next.
  2. 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.
    • When you say last Monday, do you mean the Monday just gone, or the one before that?

Adverb

last (not comparable)

  1. Most recently.
    • When we last met, he was based in Toronto.
    • How long is't now since last yourself and I / Were in a mask?c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  2. (sequence) after everything else; finally
    • As I arrived last of all, I'll go last to add the butter last.
    • last but not least
    Synonyms:
    finally

Verb (1)

last (third-person singular simple present lasts, present participle lasting, simple past and past participle lasted)

  1. (intransitive) To endure, continue over time.
    • Summer seems to last longer each year.
    • They seem happy now, but that won't last long.
  2. (intransitive) To hold out, continue undefeated or entire.
    • I don't know how much longer we can last without reinforcements.
  3. (intransitive, slang) To purposefully refrain from orgasm
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To perform, carry out.

Noun (1)

last (plural lasts)

  1. (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.
    • I muſt to the learned to learne of them, that's as much to ſay, as the Taylor muſt meddle vvith his Laſte, the Shoomaker vvith his needle, the Painter vvith his nets, and the Fiſher vvith his Penſill, I muſt to the learned.c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], signature [B4], recto
    • Here's gallants of all ſizes, of all laſts, / Here you may fit your foote, make choyſe of thoſe / VVhome your affection may reioyce in.1604 (first performance), [Thomas Middleton], Michaelmas Terme. […], London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Edward Allde] for A[rthur] I[ohnson] […], published 1607, →OCLC, signature [A4], recto

Verb (2)

last (third-person singular simple present lasts, present participle lasting, simple past and past participle lasted)

  1. (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
    • I now begin to last the boot, shoe, or clog with a wax thread, in the same way as boot or shoemakers brace the toe-part of a boot or shoe down to the inner sole, but no nails or tacks must be used, […]1819 November 1, William Archer Deacon, “Specification of the Patent Granted to William Archer Deacon, of Pilgrim’s Hatch, in the Parish of South Weald, in the County of Essex, Gentleman; for Certain...

Noun (2)

last (plural lasts or lasten)

  1. (obsolete) A burden; load; a cargo; freight.
  2. (obsolete) A measure of weight or quantity, varying in designation depending on the goods concerned.
    • Now we so quietly followed our businesse, that in three moneths wee made three or foure Last of Tarre, Pitch, and Sope ashes [...].1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 114
    • The last of wool is twelve sacks.1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 169
  3. (obsolete) An old English (and Dutch) measure of the carrying capacity of a ship, equal to two tons.
    • 1942 (1601), T D Mutch, The First Discovery of Australia, page 14,
      The tonnage of the Duyfken of Harmensz's fleet is given as 25 and 30 lasten.
  4. A load of some commodity with reference to its weight and commercial value.

Proper noun capitalized: Last

Last (plural Lasts)

  1. A surname.

last meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

last in Hindi

final
अंतिम antim, अंत्य antya, आखिरी ākhirī
most recent
पिछला pichlā
after everything else
सब के अंत में sab ke ant mẽ
to hold out
टिकना ṭiknā, बना रहना banā rahnā

last in Tamil

கடைசி, இறுதி, கடந்த, நீடித்திரு

last in Marathi

last, preceding
मागील māgīl

last in Urdu

most recent
پچھلا pichlā
More languagesFewer languages
last in Bengali
আখেরী akheri
last in Telugu
చివరి civari, ఆఖరి ākhari, పోయిన pōyina, కిందటి kindaṭi
last in Malayalam
ചരമം caramaṁ, അവസാന avasāna, അന്തിമ antima
last in Kannada
ಕೊನೆಯದು, ಕಡೆಯದು, ಹಿಂದಿನದು, ಪಿಂಬಳಿ
last in Punjabi
پر par, ਨਿਭਣਾ nibhṇā
last in Gujarati
છેલ્લું chellũ, પછવાડું pachvāḍũ
last in Odia
ଗତ gata
last in Sanskrit
अन्तम antamá, अन्त ánta, शेष śeṣa
last in Sinhala
අවසාන awasāna, අන්තිම antima
last in Assamese
টিকা tika
last in Nepali
अस्ति asti, रहनु rahanu
last in Arabic
آخِر ʔāḵir, مَاضٍ māḍin, الْمَاضِي al-māḍī, آخر
last in Malay
terakhir
last in Indonesian
terakhir
last in Persian
آخر âxer, گذشته gozašte, طول کشیدن tul kešidan, قالب کفش qâleb-e kafš
last in Thai
สุดท้าย sùt-táai, ที่แล้ว tîi-lɛ́ɛo, ก่อน gɔ̀ɔn, ที่โหล่
last in Vietnamese
cuối cùng, kéo dài

Examples of last in a sentence

  • More rain is the last thing we need right now.
  • Where my brother had stood last night, I now stood.
  • They say this blizzard might last (for) days.
  • The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
  • She told him the last news about little Georgy, and how he was gone to spend that very day with his sisters in the country.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
  • In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year.2013 May 25, “No Hiding Place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74:

All 40 example sentences with last

Synonyms of last

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of last

Forms of last

Verb
third-person singular presentlasts
present participlelasting
past participlelasted
pastlasted
Noun
plurallasts
plurallasten
Proper noun
pluralLasts

Past tense of last: lasted

Plural of last: lasts

Origin of last

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. cognates * Dutch leest * German Leisten * Proto-Germanic *laistaz (“footprint”) * Swedish läst

Words formed from last

Phrases with last

148 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with last

4 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about last

What does last mean?
Last means final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.
What is last in Hindi?
Last in Hindi is अंतिम (antim), अंत्य (antya), आखिरी (ākhirī). See Last meaning in Hindi.
How do you use last in a sentence?
More rain is the last thing we need right now.
What part of speech is last?
Last can be an adjective, a determiner, an adverb or a verb.
How do you pronounce last?
Last is pronounced /lɑːst/ (UK).

Words near last in the dictionary

  1. lassus
  2. Lasswade
  3. Lasswell
  4. Lasswells
  5. lassy
  6. last
  7. last 16
  8. last 16s
  9. last antecedent rule
  10. last big thing
  11. last big things

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: last (page history and authors); Last (page history and authors); last (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); मागील (Marathi) (page history and authors); അന്തിമ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); last (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); پر (Punjabi) (page history and authors); છેલ્લું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଗତ (Odia) (page history and authors); अन्त (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); अस्ति (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-last.wav.

Cite this entry: “last.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/last. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.