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Glite Dictionary
📦 An inventory method 🗂️ A stack principle
last in first out

last in first out

6.9
An inventory method where the newest items are counted as sold first
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : último en entrar, primero en salir
  • Using last in first out, the newest inventory is recorded as sold first, impacting tax calculations.

Examples

  • The company switched to a last in first out approach to align better with rising material costs.

  • The accountant explained the pros and cons of last in first out versus FIFO.

  • The company uses a last in first out method for their inventory.

  • Is the last in first out method effective for perishable goods?

  • The accountant explained the benefits of using last in first out for managing inventory sales.

  • Many businesses adopt a last in first out method to optimize their inventory management strategies.

  • In the last in first out system, the newest items in stock are sold before older ones.

Synonyms

LIFO
vslast in first out
  • Specialized
1 8.0

A way where the last thing added is the first one taken, used in accounting and computing

is the same rule applied specifically to inventory valuation in accounting

Antonyms

first in first out
  • Specialized
4.0

A way of keeping items so the oldest ones are used or sold first

Surface Forms

last in first out singular
last in first outs plural

Morphology

last + in + first + out

The phrase 'last in, first out' is fully compositional: the constituents directly describe an ordering rule where the item that enters last is the one that leaves first. This ordinal logic is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the intended meaning even without computing background.

Etymology

Last in first out comes from the image of boxes stacked so the newest box sits on top. Imagine the last box put in the stack is the first one taken out, so it means 'the most recently acquired items are recorded or sold first'.