last word

last word

English

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Noun

last word (plural last words)

1. (idiomatic, often preceded by the and followed by in) The finest, highest, or ultimate representative of some class of objects.

   Synonym: exemplar

   • 1917, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “Captain Jim Crosses the Bar”, in Anne’s House of Dreams, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, published 1920, OCLC 317578159, page 332:

     Little Joe's mother's cake was the last word in cakes; [...]

   • 1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter III, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, authorized British edition, London: Martin Secker […], published February 1932 (May 1932 printing), OCLC 560928522:

     Michaelis was the last word in what was caddish and bounderish.

2. (idiomatic) Concluding remark; final advice, instructions, or observation.
   • 1876–1877, Henry James, Jr., chapter XII, in The American, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, […], published 5 May 1877, OCLC 4655661, page 205:

     ["]I have got my leave, and that is all I want." / "You had better receive the last word from my mother," said the marquis. / "Very good; I will go and get it," said Newman; and he prepared to return to the drawing-room.

   • 1918, W. H. Hudson, chapter 24, in Far Away and Long Ago:

     [W]hen we had grasped hands for the last time and had said our last good-bye, he added this one more last word: "Of all the people I have ever known you are the only one I don't know."

3. (often pluralized) The final statement uttered by a person before death.
   • 1889 September 11, Mark Twain, “Last words of great men”, in Buffalo Express‎, Buffalo, N.Y.:

     Benjamin Franklin [...] pondered over his last words for as much as two weeks, and then when the time came, he said, "None but the brave deserve the fair," and died happy.

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘To-morrow We Disappear into the Unknown’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, OCLC 1029993343, page 109:

     This account I am transmitting down the river by canoe, and it may be our last word to those who are interested in our fate.

4. (idiomatic) A final decision or remark, or the right to make one.

   have the last word

   get the last word

   • 2008 July 9, Jeff Israely, “Where Is the Afghan Female Runner?”, in Time‎:

     An Afghan Olympic official said the team holds the right to substitute Andyar with another female athlete, though the IOC would have the last word.

Translations

finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: viimeinen sana, viimeinen huuto German: Krone (de) f, Nonplusultra (de) n Italian: non plus ultra (it) m Russian: после́днее сло́во n (poslédneje slóvo)

concluding remarks

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: viimeinen sana German: letztes Wort n Icelandic: síðasta orðið n, (to have the last word) eiga síðasta orðið Italian: l'ultima parola f Russian: please add this translation if you can Tagalog: huling kataga

(often pluralized) final statement uttered before death

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: viimeiset sanat pl French: dernière paroles f pl German: letztes Wort n Icelandic: (poetic) hinstu orð n pl, síðustu orð n pl Russian: после́днее сло́во n (poslédneje slóvo) Tagalog: huling kataga Vietnamese: trăng trối

final decision or the right to make such a decision

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: viimeinen sana German: letztes Wort n Japanese: 決定版 (けっていばん, ketteiban) Russian: после́днее сло́во n (poslédneje slóvo)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Irish: (please verify) an focal deiridh m

See also

• last laugh

References

• last word at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• draw lots