eleventh-hour
eleventh-hour — idiom
1. done or happening at the very last moment, when there is almost no time left and
done or happening at the very last moment, when there is almost no time left and a situation could easily fail or go wrong
Firefighters arrived at the eleventh hour and pulled the family from the burning house.
An eleventh-hour deal between the two companies saved three hundred jobs at the factory.
attributive use: eleventh-hour + noun (deal/rescue/decision)
Lin submitted her university application at the eleventh hour, just minutes before the deadline.
The government announced an eleventh-hour rescue plan for the struggling national railway.
A last-minute donor gave the theatre enough money at the eleventh hour to stay open.
collocation: at the eleventh hour
- at the eleventh hour
- eleventh-hour decision
- eleventh-hour rescue
- eleventh-hour deal
- eleventh-hour compromise
- last minute
more common in everyday conversation; interchangeable in most contexts
- just in time
emphasises the successful outcome rather than the lateness itself
- in the nick of time
more informal and dramatic; suggests a very narrow escape from disaster
- well in advance
suggests careful planning and completion long before the deadline
- ahead of schedule
implies early completion relative to a planned timeline
Grammar Patterns
at the eleventh hour
eleventh-hour + noun
Usage Note
Often used as an adjective before a noun (e.g. eleventh-hour decision, eleventh-hour rescue). Can also appear after the preposition 'at' as an adverbial phrase.
Common Mistakes
eleventh-hour — noun
1. the final point at which it is still possible to act before a deadline or before
the final point at which it is still possible to act before a deadline or before a situation becomes hopeless
The negotiators worked right up to the eleventh hour before reaching an agreement.
Yuki always leaves her homework until the eleventh hour and rushes to finish it.
pattern: leave [something] until the eleventh hour
Doctors kept fighting for the patient's life until the eleventh hour.
Waiting until the eleventh hour to buy plane tickets usually costs more money.
- until the eleventh hour
- right up to the eleventh hour
- at the eleventh hour
- before the eleventh hour
- the final moment
more general and less figurative than the biblical 'eleventh hour'
- the last possible moment
the literal paraphrase; interchangeable in most contexts
- plenty of time
suggests a comfortable margin before the deadline
Grammar Patterns
until / at / before + the eleventh hour
Usage Note
Functions as a noun phrase, typically after prepositions such as 'at', 'until', or 'before'. Unlike the idiom entry, this sense is not used as an attributive adjective before another noun.
Etymology
The expression comes from a parable in the Bible (Matthew 20:1-16) about a vineyard owner who hired workers at different hours of the day. Those hired at the eleventh hour — around 5 p.m., the last working hour — received the same full-day wage as workers who had started much earlier. By the late 1700s, the phrase had entered general English usage to mean 'at the last possible moment'.
First known use
1772
1772, in the meaning defined above