Word.ws English Dictionary

stick to one's last

stick to one's last verb: to stick to one's knitting (to concentrate on one's own tasks, affairs, area of expertise etc.).

Verb

stick to one's last (third-person singular simple present sticks to one's last, present participle sticking to one's last, simple past and past participle stuck to one's last)

  1. (idiomatic) To stick to one's knitting (to concentrate on one's own tasks, affairs, area of expertise etc.).
    • But never one to stick to his last, James founded the Little Big Band in 1993, which launched him on nearly a decade of swing material. Recent years have found him venturing back into rock and he says, “I think it’s time to hit the blues again” when asked what’s around the bend.2013 March 15, Richard Ouzounian, “Colin James: Blazing his own path for 25 years”, in Toronto Star
    • Sir Martin made clear he intended to “stick to his last” by staying in an industry he knew well and enjoyed, and that he would not wait long before making his next move.2018 May 8, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, “Martin Sorrell vows to ‘start again’ after WPP exit”, in Financial Times

Forms of stick to one's last

third-person singular presentsticks to one's last
present participlesticking to one's last
past participlestuck to one's last
paststuck to one's last

Origin of stick to one's last

Compare the proverb cobbler, keep to your last or shoemaker, stick to your last.

Questions about stick to one's last

What does stick to one's last mean?
Stick to one's last means to stick to one's knitting (to concentrate on one's own tasks, affairs, area of expertise etc.).
What part of speech is stick to one's last?
Stick to one's last is a verb.
What is the past tense of stick to one's last?
The past tense of stick to one's last is stuck to one's last.

Words near stick to one's last in the dictionary

  1. stick times
  2. stick to
  3. stick to business
  4. stick to one's guns
  5. stick to one's knitting
  6. stick to one's last
  7. stick to one's own knitting
  8. stick to one's post
  9. stick to one's text
  10. stick to someone's ribs
  11. stick together

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stick to one's last (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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