Word.ws English Dictionary

last nail in the coffin

last nail in the coffin is the alternative form of final nail in the coffin.

Meaning of final nail in the coffin

Noun

final nail in the coffin (plural final nails in the coffin)

  1. (idiomatic) Something that is ultimately responsible for a previously prospective demise or failure.
    • The Slurpie Shack franchise was already considering filing for bankruptcy after five years of poor profits, but a fire that destroyed the flagship restaurant was the final nail in the coffin.

Questions about last nail in the coffin

What is last nail in the coffin the alternative form of?
Last nail in the coffin is the alternative form of final nail in the coffin.

Words near last nail in the coffin in the dictionary

  1. last mile
  2. last mile school
  3. last miles
  4. last minute
  5. last moment
  6. last nail in the coffin
  7. last name
  8. last names
  9. last night
  10. last of the big spenders
  11. last of the big-time spenders

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: last nail in the coffin (page history and authors); final nail in the coffin (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-last nail in the coffin.ogg.

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