(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
You use ~ in expressions such as ~ Friday, ~ night, and ~ year to refer, for example, to the most recent Friday, night, or year.
I got married ~ July...
He never made it home at all ~ night...
It is not surprising they did so badly in ~ year’s elections.
DET
2.
The ~ event, person, thing, or period of time is the most recent one.
Much has changed since my ~ visit...
At the ~ count inflation was 10.9 per cent...
I split up with my ~ boyfriend three years ago...
The ~ few weeks have been hectic.
ADJ: det ADJ
•
Last is also a pronoun.
The next tide, it was announced, would be even higher than the ~.
PRON
3.
If something ~ happened on a particular occasion, that is the most recent occasion on which it happened.
When were you there ~?...
The house is a little more dilapidated than when I ~ saw it...
Hunting on the trust’s 625,000 acres was ~ debated two years ago.
ADV: ADV with v
4.
The ~ thing, person, event, or period of time is the one that happens or comes after all the others of the same kind.
This is his ~ chance as prime minister.
...the ~ three pages of the chapter...
She said it was the very ~ house on the road...
They didn’t come ~ in their league.
? first
ORD
•
Last is also a pronoun.
It wasn’t the first time that this particular difference had divided them and it wouldn’t be the ~...
The trickiest bits are the ~ on the list.
PRON
5.
If you do something ~, you do it after everyone else does, or after you do everything else.
I testified ~...
I was always picked ~ for the football team at school...
The foreground, nearest the viewer, is painted ~.
ADV: ADV after v
6.
If you are the ~ to do or know something, everyone else does or knows it before you.
She was the ~ to go to bed...
Riccardo and I are always the ~ to know what’s going on.
PRON: PRON to-inf
7.
Last is used to refer to the only thing, person, or part of something that remains.
Jed nodded, finishing off the ~ piece of pizza.
...the freeing of the ~ hostage.
ADJ: det ADJ
•
Last is also a noun.
He finished off the ~ of the wine...
The ~ of the ten inmates gave themselves up after twenty eight hours on the roof of the prison.
N-SING: the N of n
8.
You use ~ before numbers to refer to a position that someone has reached in a competition after other competitors have been knocked out.
Sampras reached the ~ four at Wimbledon.
...the only woman among the authors making it through to the ~ six.
ADJ: det ADJ
9.
You can use ~ to indicate that something is extremely undesirable or unlikely.
The ~ thing I wanted to do was teach...
He would be the ~ person who would do such a thing.
ADJ: det ADJ emphasis
•
Last is also a pronoun.
I would be the ~ to say that science has explained everything.
PRON: PRON to-inf
10.
The ~ you see of someone or the ~ you hear of them is the final time that you see them or talk to them.
She disappeared shouting, ‘To the river, to the river!’ And that was the ~ we saw of her...
I had a feeling it would be the ~ I heard of him.
? first
PRON: the PRON that
11.
If an event, situation, or problem ~s for a particular length of time, it continues to exist or happen for that length of time.
The marriage had ~ed for less than two years...
The games ~ed only half the normal time...
Enjoy it because it won’t ~.
VERB: V for n, V n, V, also V adv
12.
If something ~s for a particular length of time, it continues to be able to be used for that time, for example because there is some of it left or because it is in good enough condition.
You only need a very small blob of glue, so one tube ~s for ages...
The repaired sail ~ed less than 24 hours...
The implication is that this battery ~s twice as long as other batteries...
VERB: V for n, V n, V adv, also V
13.
see also ~ing
14.
If you say that something has happened at ~ or at long ~ you mean it has happened after you have been hoping for it for a long time.
I’m so glad that we’ve found you at ~!...
Here, at long ~, was the moment he had waited for...
At ~ the train arrived in the station...
= finally
PHRASE: PHR with cl
15.
You use expressions such as the night before ~, the election before ~ and the leader before ~ to refer to the period of time, event, or person that came immediately before the most recent one in a series.
It was the dog he’d heard the night before ~...
In the budget before ~ a tax penalty on the mobile phone was introduced.
PHRASE
16.
You can use phrases such as the ~ but one, the ~ but two, or the ~ but three, to refer to the thing or person that is, for example, one, two, or three before the final person or thing in a group or series.
It’s the ~ but one day in the athletics programme...
The British team finished ~ but one.
PHRASE: PHR n, PHR after v
17.
You can use expressions such as the ~ I heard and the ~ she heard to introduce a piece of information that is the most recent that you have on a particular subject.
The ~ I heard, Joe and Irene were still happily married.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
18.
If you leave something or someone until ~, you delay using, choosing, or dealing with them until you have used, chosen, or dealt with all the others.
I have left my best wine until ~...
I picked first all the people who usually were left till ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
19.
to have the ~ laugh: see laugh
~-minute: see minute
the ~ straw: see straw
~ thing: see thing