eleventh
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
at the eleventh hour
At the last possible moment or opportunity. I was shocked that they reached an agreement at the eleventh hour after weeks of squabbling.
eleventh-hour decision
A decision made at the last possible moment or opportunity. I was shocked that they reached an eleventh-hour decision after weeks of squabbling.
See also: decision
the eleventh hour
The last possible moment or opportunity. Can be hyphenated if used as a modifier before a noun. I was shocked that they reached an agreement at the eleventh hour after weeks of squabbling. I was shocked that they reached an eleventh-hour decision after weeks of squabbling.
at the eleventh hour
Fig. at the last possible moment. (Just before the last clock hour, 12) She always turned her term papers in at the eleventh hour. We don't worry about death until the eleventh hour.
eleventh-hour decision
Fig. a decision made very late in a process, or at the last possible moment. Eleventh-hour decisions are seldom satisfactory. The president's eleventh-hour decision was made in a great hurry, but it turned out to be correct.
See also: decision
eleventh hour
The latest possible time, as in We turned in our report at the eleventh hour. This term is thought to allude to the parable of the laborers (Matthew 20:1-16), in which those workers hired at the eleventh hour of a twelve-hour working day were paid the same amount as those who began in the first hour. [Early 1800s]
at the eleventh hour
COMMON If something happens at the eleventh hour, it happens at the last possible moment. Some of the exhibitions were cancelled at the eleventh hour. Then, at the eleventh hour, I had an accident that almost stopped me from entering the competition. Note: An eleventh hour decision or action is one that occurs at the last possible moment. This eleventh hour decision came as something of a surprise. The company has sold off 31 social clubs in an eleventh hour deal. Note: This expression comes from the Bible, where Jesus uses it in the story of the labourers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). In Jesus's time the hours were counted from dawn until dusk, with the twelfth hour bringing darkness, and so the eleventh hour was the last hour before dark.
at the eleventh hour
at the latest possible moment.This expression originally referred to Jesus's parable of the labourers hired right at the end of the day to work in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1–16).
the eˌleventh ˈhour
the moment when it is almost, but not quite, too late to do something, avoid something, etc: Our pianist had fallen ill, and then, at the eleventh hour, when we thought we’d have to cancel the performance, Jill offered to replace him. ▶ eˌleventh-ˈhour adj.: an eleventh-hour decisioneleventh hour, at the
Just in time; at the last possible moment. This expression occurs in the biblical parable of the laborers (Matthew 20:1–16), in which those workers hired at the eleventh hour of a twelve-hour day received as much pay as those who began work in the first hour. Eric Partridge claimed that the current cliché does not allude to this story but offered no alternative source. The American poet Forceythe Willson (1837–67) wrote, “And I heard a Bugle sounding, as from some celestial Tower; and the same mysterious voice said: ‘It is the Eleventh Hour!’” (“The Old Sergeant”). The armistice ending World War I came into force at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
See also: eleventh