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last minute

noun

Definition of last minutenext
as in crisis
the last possible time when something can be done You shouldn't wait until the last minute before planning your retirement. They were making changes to the show right up to the last minute.

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for last minute
  1. crisis
  2. emergency
  3. extremity
  4. possibility
  5. climax
  6. eleventh hour
  7. milestone
  8. zero hour
Noun
  • Kristin, a cool, calm, and collected crisis negotiator from the purple tribe, negotiates with Kilby, a game designer from Canada on the yellow tribe.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Thomas Peter | Reuters Climate shocks, geopolitical conflict and a global fuel crisis, on top of surging interest rates and donor cuts, leave the world poorly placed to respond, said Chris Newton, food security analyst at International Crisis Group.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of crisis
Noun
  • Aging pipes must be replaced, leaks prevented, emergencies addressed and critical systems kept operating for homes, schools, hospitals and businesses.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Elsewhere, one person was killed and six others injured after Russian forces attacked an electric train in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, the state emergency service said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of emergency
Noun
  • Singletary showed movement in his extremities at an Ames hospital and was continuing to be evaluated, the school announced.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Young had concussion symptoms and full use of his extremities, according to Green.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of extremity
Noun
  • The best possibilities remain appealing after the excitement fades and the practical part finally enters the room.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 25 Sep. 2026
  • QuIC gives Lockheed Martin a dedicated organization to pursue those possibilities as the technology matures.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of possibility
Noun
  • The climax of the book is the fight over who would run the private company.
    — Lane Brown, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
  • So a market peak could occur before getting to a climax that reminds everyone of the big one from a quarter-century ago.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of climax
Noun
  • Civil litigation can drag on for years, frequently ending in settlements reached at the eleventh hour, just before a trial begins.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Why the eleventh hour came with an extra second, killing time proved impossible, and time fails to fly in Ann Arbor.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of eleventh hour
Noun
  • IonQ, a leading provider of quantum computing solutions globally, reached a major milestone after successfully demonstrating quantum error correction using a real-time decoder that can run on a single central processing unit (CPU).
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Hogan is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a project that will be unveiled Wednesday evening at Bocconi University — with cinema chosen as the medium to mark the milestone.
    — Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of milestone
Noun
  • Nevertheless, this is an improvement on the zero hours that (many) men were doing 50 years ago.
    — Meg Walters, Glamour, 9 Nov. 2025
  • The King video marked the zero hour for new forms of activism using cameras.
    — Will Potter July 7, Literary Hub, 7 July 2025
Definition of zero hour
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

lastly
last minute
last minutes
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Cite this Entry

“Last minute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/last%20minute. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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