last trump
1
9.9
- noun
- Archaic
:
último recurso
- He played his last trump to win the game.
Examples
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Launching the new product was their last trump in an effort to revive sales.
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She kept her last trump hidden until the crucial moment in the trial.
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When negotiations stalled, the manager played his last trump to persuade the board.
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In negotiations, she revealed her last trump at the final moment.
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In a desperate situation, he decided to use his last trump to win the game.
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The manager revealed his last trump when negotiations fell apart, hoping to secure a deal.
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She saved her last trump for the final round, knowing it could turn the tide.
Synonyms
69
3.5
A final thing you try when all other options have failed
5
3.8
A strong advantage that gives someone a winning edge
3
5.8
A final effort you make when nothing else works
1
6.4
A final desperate try to succeed when success seems unlikely
How Decisive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is largely derivable from 'last' (final) plus 'trump' (a decisive advantage/to defeat) so a learner who knows 'trump' in the sense of a decisive card or action can infer 'the final decisive resource'. However, the phrase can be idiomatic or confused with the biblical 'last trumpet' and depends on knowing the specific sense of 'trump', so full predictability is limited.
Etymology
Last trump may come from an old Bible image of a trumpet sounding at the end of time to signal the end of the world. So it now means a 'final' or 'decisive' action or resource used when everything else has failed.