last-ditch effort

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A final try to succeed or to avoid failure, made when other attempts have not worked and little time or hope is left.

   Grammar: Often follows make or in: make a last-ditch effort. Also written without a hyphen after the noun, but the hyphen is standard before it.

   Patterns

   • make a last-ditch effort to do something
   • in a last-ditch effort to do something

   In a last-ditch effort to save the company, the owners sold their house.

   The coach made a last-ditch effort to rally the exhausted team.

   Negotiators launched a last-ditch effort to prevent the strike.

2. 2nouncountablefigurative

   A desperate final action, taken as a last resort, that may be risky because nothing else remains.

   Grammar: Usually pairs with attempt-like verbs, and the adjective last-ditch can also modify attempt, bid or plea.

   Patterns

   • a last-ditch effort at something
   • a last-ditch effort by someone

   The email was a last-ditch effort by the student to avoid failing the course.

   A last-ditch effort by firefighters kept the flames from the village.

   Her last-ditch effort at a comeback fell short.

Word forms

Common combinations

make a last-ditch effort

The team made a last-ditch effort in the final minute.

in a last-ditch effort

In a last-ditch effort, she called every number on the list.

a desperate last-ditch effort

It was a desperate last-ditch effort to stay in the league.

last-ditch effort to save

Volunteers staged a last-ditch effort to save the library.

last-ditch attempt

Their last-ditch attempt at peace talks failed.

Synonyms and how they differ

final attempt

Final attempt just says it is the last one, while last-ditch effort adds that it is desperate and follows failures.

last resort

A last resort is the option you turn to when nothing else is left, while a last-ditch effort is the act of trying it.

eleventh-hour attempt

Eleventh-hour stresses the lateness of the timing, whereas last-ditch stresses desperation.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary is informal and borrowed from football, suggesting a long-shot gamble.

Opposites

Word family

ditch noun

a long narrow channel dug in the ground

last-ditch adjective

done as a final, desperate attempt

last-minute adjective

happening at the final moment

effort noun

physical or mental energy used to do something

Commonly confused: last-ditch effort or last-minute?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “last-ditch effort”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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