last resort
69
3.5
- noun
- /læst rɪˈzɔrt/
:
último recurso
- So with no other options, some workers turned to their last resort, protesting.
- only a last resort
- used as a last resort
- option of last resort
So with no other options, some workers turned to their last resort, protesting.
- So with no other options, some workers turned to their last resort, protesting.
- the Fed serves as a lender of last resort to troubled banks.
- We're all brought up taught that war is a last resort.
- War wasn't outlawed, but it had to be the last resort.
- He says it's not that we can't use violence, but we use that as a last resort, not the first thing.
- And most like prayer should be our first response, not our last resort.
- I I think especially now after seeing it, combat should always be the last resort because it's really complicated.
- The Federal Reserve didn't yet exist, meaning that there was no lender of last resort.
- With help from the public, which is really an abstraction, which makes a claim to be the court of last resort in relation to the truth.
- It could be pressure, persuasion, punitive measures such as sanctions and in the last resort, military intervention.
- My point on this is not that the Iranians are good guys, they're not, but that you shouldn't use force except as a last, last, last resort.
Examples
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The use of force is always the last resort.
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Social media was my last resort to try and share a message that I deeply believed the world needed.
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We're taught as kids in school that war is a last resort, and I agree with that.
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A letter is their last resort.
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Well, I think that litigation should be your last resort.
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the Fed serves as a lender of last resort to troubled banks.
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Historically, insulin has been seen as the last resort when all other treatments have failed.
Academic text (2011) -
I come to you as a last resort, and I confess my patience is wearing thin.
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Physical punishment was generally used as the last resort in cases of burglary or cattle rustling.
Academic text (2001) -
When all negotiations failed, he was forced to seek legal action as a last resort.
Synonyms
84
4.9
Turning to someone or something for help as a last option
14
6.1
A final strong effort to resist a change or attack when defeat seems near
14
5.7
An extreme action you take when all other options fail
8
6.3
An extreme action taken only when nothing else will work
7
6.3
A final effort before something ends or fails
3
5.8
A final effort you make when nothing else works
1
9.9
A final strong action you keep for when nothing else works
1
6.4
A final desperate try to succeed when success seems unlikely
1
7.0
A final chance to succeed or avoid failure
A last choice used only when nothing better exists
How Desperate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the final option when all other possibilities have failed' is directly and transparently derivable from combining 'last' (coming at the end) with 'resort' (an act of turning to something for help). This compositional interpretation follows standard English noun-modifier patterns and is cross‑linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'último recurso'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Last resort may come from the idea of a resort as a place you 'turn to' for help. So last resort literally means the last place or thing you go to, and that's why it means a 'final option' when everything else fails.