last-ditch effort
Final desperate attempt
A last-ditch effort is a final, desperate attempt when all other options have failed.
The phrase evokes soldiers defending from the last trench before being overrun—there's nowhere left to retreat.
In a last-ditch effort to save the company, they slashed prices by half.
The modifier last-ditch applies to any desperate final measure: a last-ditch appeal, a last-ditch attempt.
- hail maryDesperate long-shot attempt
- buzzer beaterShot made at final moment
- desperateDriven by urgent need
- finalLast and decisive
- attemptEffort to accomplish
shot in dark · emergency · scramble · clutch · gambit · longshot · kitchen sink · salvage · sinking ship · brink · precipice · point of no return · hopeless · frantic · eleventh hour · do-or-die · all-out · final stand
- risk phrasestake a chance, take a gamble, risk it all, go for broke, roll the dice
- underdog storiesunderdog, comeback, long shot, dark horse, upset victory
last-ditch effortfirst attempt
Initial effort at something
first step · starting point · first pass · early intervention · trial run
last, ditch, effort, lasts, lasted, lasting, lastly, ditches, ditched