last gasp

Noun

last gasp (plural last gasps)

1. The final gasp or breath a person takes before death.
   • Now the murdered man is drawing his last gasp.1932, Carl Theodor Dreyer and Christen Jul, Vampyr
2. (broadly) The point of death, or the last period of one's life.
   • Such as feare God shall be strengthened to stand against all assaults of Satan; yea they shal continue and stand stedfast vnto the end, euen to the last gasp.1585, Edwin Sandys, “Sermon 14”, in Sermons, page 247
   • […] but so much rain fell therewith, as refreshed Aurelius his Forces, that were at the last gasp for thirst:1680, Andrew Marvell, A Short Historical Essay Touching General Councils, Creeds, and Impositions in Matters of Religion, page 33
3. (figuratively) The point at which something disappears or is destroyed; a last-gasp moment, attempt, etc.
   • Me thinks, (my Lord) you are grown something solemn on the sudden; since your Monopolies and Patents, which made your purse swell like a wet spunge, have been reduc’d to th’ last gasp.1654, George Chapman (attr.), “Act I”, in Revenge for Honour, page 9
   • The current was more rapid now, the steamer seemed at her last gasp, the stern-wheel flopped languidly, and I caught myself listening on tiptoe for the next beat of the float, for in sober truth I expected the wretched thing to give up every moment.1899 March, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume 165, page 486