swan song
noun
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Swans don't sing. They whistle or trumpet, or in the case of the swan most common in ponds, the mute swan, they only hiss and snort. But according to ancient legend, the swan does sing one beautiful song in its life-just before it dies. References in English to the dying swan's lovely singing go back as far as Chaucer, but the term swan song itself didn't appear in the language until the 1830s, when Thomas Carlyle used it in Sartor Resartus. Carlyle probably based his "swan song" on the German version of the term, which is Schwanengesang or Schwanenlied.
Examples of swan song in a Sentence
Shannon Carlin, TIME, 15 July 2024
Its sustainability efforts—alongside his charity work—will no doubt be Branson's swan song.
—Shannon McMahon, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2024
After making the World Cup in 2018 and narrowly missing out on qualification for 2022, this might be the last swan song for Peru’s most recent golden generation.
—Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 19 June 2024
His swan song, in the 1973 World Series, is not remembered fondly.
—Gary Peterson, The Mercury News, 19 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for swan song 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'swan song.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Swan song.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swan%20song. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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