eleventh hour

noun
1.
the last possible moment for doing something:
to change plans at the eleventh hour.
Origin
1820-30
Examples from the web for eleventh hour
  • He laments our spiritual miseries, especially his sins and sloth continued all his life now to the eleventh hour.
  • We cannot afford to wait until the eleventh hour to reach an agreement.
  • In no way, has this been a hasty or negligent eleventh hour surprise.
  • We should not play politics with national security by delaying debate over these issues until the eleventh hour.
British Dictionary definitions for eleventh hour

eleventh hour

noun
1.
  1. the latest possible time; last minute
  2. (as modifier): an eleventh-hour decision
eleventh hour in Culture

eleventh hour definition


The last minute: β€œThe water bombers arrived at the eleventh hour β€” just in time to prevent the forest fire from engulfing the town.”

Idioms and Phrases with eleventh hour

eleventh hour

The latest possible time, as in We turned in our report at the eleventh hour. This term is thought to allude to the parable of the laborers (Matthew 20:1–16), in which those workers hired at the eleventh hour of a twelve-hour working day were paid the same amount as those who began in the first hour. [ Early 1800s ]