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Glite Dictionary
eleventh-hour effort

eleventh-hour effort

4.8
A last-minute attempt to finish something before time runs out
  • noun
translation icon : esfuerzo de último momento
  • The project was finished on time thanks to an eleventh-hour effort by the whole team.

Examples

  • Despite the challenging circumstances, they mounted an eleventh-hour effort to win the race.

  • Her eleventh-hour effort convinced the board to approve the proposal.

  • They made an eleventh-hour effort to save the project.

  • The team put in an eleventh-hour effort to meet the deadline.

  • The team made an eleventh-hour effort to complete the project before the deadline.

  • Her eleventh-hour effort to study resulted in passing the difficult exam.

  • The authors submitted an eleventh-hour effort to publish their findings before the conference.

Synonyms

last-ditch attempt
vseleventh-hour effort
3 5.8

A final effort you make when nothing else works

is a last-minute try that stresses timing rather than desperation
last-gasp effort
vseleventh-hour effort
1 6.4

A final desperate try to succeed when success seems unlikely

is a time-focused attempt made very near the deadline

How Late

eleventh-hour effort
4.8
timely
111 3.0
promptness
4 3.5
early
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

eleventh-hour effort singular
eleventh-hour efforts plural

Morphology

eleventh-hour + effort

The head noun 'effort' is fully transparent, but 'eleventh-hour' is a conventionalized, idiomatic modifier meaning 'last-minute'. A B1 learner who knows 'eleventh' and 'hour' might infer a sense of lateness but would not reliably derive the conventional meaning 'just before a deadline' without prior exposure, so the combined phrase is only partially predictable.

Etymology

The phrase eleventh-hour effort comes from an old story about workers hired in the eleventh hour, the very last hour of the day, so doing work then means you start at the last possible moment. That's why eleventh-hour effort means 'a last-minute attempt'.