LAST


Meaning of LAST in English

I. determiner

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a final/last attempt

They made one final attempt to make their marriage work.

a lasting benefit

These plans are likely to result in lasting benefit to the whole of our district.

a lasting friendship

This began a lasting friendship between the two women.

a lasting impact (= one that lasts for a long time )

The arrival of the railways made a lasting impact on many sectors of the economy.

a lasting impression (= one that someone remembers for a long time )

Sam’s performance had clearly made a lasting impression on the audience.

a lasting influence (= continuing for a long time )

His travels in Africa had a lasting influence on his work.

a lasting/permanent peace

He has the chance to forge a lasting peace with the Palestinians.

an abiding/enduring/lasting memory (= that you will always have )

The children's abiding memory of their father is of his patience and gentleness.

an effect lasts (= continues )

The effect of the drug lasts about six hours.

come first/last etc in a race ( also finish first/last etc in a race )

She came third in the race.

down to...last penny

She’s down to her last penny .

every last drop/bit/scrap etc (= all of something, including even the smallest amount of it )

They made us pick up every last scrap of paper.

first and last (= it was the only mountain I ever climbed )

The first and last mountain I climbed was Mount Rundle .

first/last on a list

Your name will be first on my list.

Why am I always last on the list?

first/second/last post (= the first, second, or last collection or delivery of letters each day )

The last post is at 5.30.

give...the last rites

A priest came to give him the last rites .

last bastions

These clubs are the last bastions of male privilege.

last call

last (for) an hour

The meeting lasted almost two hours.

last forever

I wanted that moment to last forever .

last Friday

I had a terrible time last Friday.

last heard of (= he was in Washington the last time someone had information about him )

He was last heard of in Washington .

last hurrah

He’s made it clear that this Olympics, his third, will be his last hurrah.

last judgment

last lap...journey

The last lap of their journey was by ship.

last Monday

Kelly arrived last Monday.

last month

The new restaurant opened last month.

last name

last night

It rained last night.

last orders

last post

last rites

last Saturday

I saw Sally last Saturday at the mall.

last Sunday

It was our wedding anniversary last Sunday.

last Thursday

He was arrested last Thursday.

last Tuesday

It was my birthday last Tuesday.

last Wednesday

They left last Wednesday.

last week

Last week, my washing machine broke down.

last weekend

We were in Glasgow last weekend.

last year

Last year we spent a lot on the house.

last/current/coming/next fiscal year

lasting fame (= being famous for a long time )

Diderot gained lasting fame as the editor of the French Encyclopaedia.

lasting happiness (= happiness that continues )

Leonie had found a lasting happiness in her relationship with Jim.

lasting value (= that will be important or useful for a long time )

He wanted to achieve something of lasting value.

lasting/permanent harm

The injury caused him discomfort but no lasting harm.

last/next summer

He visited Brittany last summer.

last...throw of the dice

a last desperate throw of the dice to try and win his wife back

leave sth until the last minute/until last

If you leave your preparation until the last minute , you’ll reduce your chances of passing.

I left the best bit until last.

leave sth until the last minute/until last

If you leave your preparation until the last minute , you’ll reduce your chances of passing.

I left the best bit until last.

next/last April

I’m going to Cuba next April.

next/last August

I was there last August.

next/last December

Last December they visited Prague.

next/last February

Mum died last February.

next/last January

I haven’t heard from him since last January.

next/last July

Laura came over to England last July.

next/last June

I finished school last June.

next/last March

She started work here last March.

next/last May

She started work here last May.

next/last November

He started work here last November.

next/last October

We moved in last October.

next/last September

I haven’t heard from him since last September.

one final/last point

There is one final point I would like to make.

only yesterday/last week/recently

‘When did you email her?’ ‘Only yesterday.’

permanent/lasting memorial

An appeal has been launched to build a lasting memorial to the composer.

sb's first/second/last etc appearance

This is the band's last appearance in the UK before a 46-date tour of Europe.

sb's last will and testament formal (= sb's will )

sb’s last chance

This is my last chance to try and pass the exam.

sb’s last/final resting place (= the place where someone is buried )

sb’s last/final/dying wish

Her last wish was to be buried in her husband’s grave.

the first/last day of term

On the last day of term we went home early.

the last vestiges

The new law removed the last vestiges of royal power.

the last/final chapter

The final chapter summarizes the themes in the book.

the last/final part

We had reached the last part of our journey.

the last/latter half

He struggled with ill health in the latter half of his life.

the last/latter/closing years of sth

He changed his opinion during the last years of his life.

the last/next century

The boats were built in the last century.

the last/next few

The office has been closed for the last few days.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

at the last count

At the last count , only 18 Japanese firms were making car parts in America.

There are a lot of professional athletes living in the Orlando area -- more than 100 at last count .

Apart from Summerchild and a clerical assistant, the Unit at the last count still consisted of one single member, Serafin herself.

I have, at the last count , 19 separate applications under consideration by 12 separate funding bodies.

It has now become a challenge to find new varieties of herb - at the last count there were just over 130.

More than 200, in fact, at the last count .

My sister Mahaud, at the last count , had more admirers than there are Elks.

The total world population was put at 190 at the last count .

They have been joined by a growing group of people denied entry, 198 at the last count .

Yet at the last count there were six oil-rich states bordering the Gulf.

be down to your last pound/dollar/litre etc

be sb's last/only/best hope

Advocates just seem to take it on faith that annexation is the only hope of salvation for this city.

But mad or not, you are my only hope , Meg.

But Thomas Sachs was now her only hope .

I expected to be disappointed, though the letter was now my only hope .

In the long term, Mr Heseltine said that privatisation was the only hope for the industry.

Is he only hoping to make money?

Robert Urquhart was her only hope , her only ally.

That was the only hope I had of reaching the doctor.

be the last thing on sb's mind

Marriage is the last thing on my mind right now.

breathe your last (breath)

Five hours more and she'd breathe her last and never know them.

In the blue light of the morning he breathed his last.

Large-scale, publicly-owned enterprises will breathe their last gasp and wither away well before the state which spawned them.

Millions who were dangerously ill or breathing their last.

The moment Carey was confident that Elizabeth had breathed her last he was in the saddle, racing for the Border.

When it looked as though he was breathing his last, Beria's face shone with delight.

every (last) ounce of courage/energy/strength etc

It had taken every ounce of courage she possessed to board the aircraft after her last experience.

famous last words

So he said, with those famous last words, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

first and last

And a system whose first and last resort was all too often expediency.

At Banff I climbed my first and last mountain - Mount Rundle.

For the first and last time in her life, Amelia was too preoccupied to interact with her peers.

I sat back and treated myself to a cigarette, determined to make it the first and last of the day.

Instead of pressing the spacebar anywhere between the first and last characters of the text, press the Home spacebar.

It was the first and last time that management capitulated in the face of a departing mortgage trader.

She wrote that she was dying of a fever, and asked him to visit her for the first and last time.

These records included the first and last dates of all absences and the reason for absence.

have the last laugh

Boy did he have the last laugh .

Holding a rolling pin and determined to have the last laugh .

Yet women drivers have the last laugh .

in the final/last analysis

In the final analysis Stalin was just as much a dictator as Hitler.

In the final analysis , the project was a failure.

The responsibility for the accident must, in the last analysis , rest with the captain.

And, in the final analysis , are they any good?

But in the final analysis it had been he who wanted out.

But in the final analysis , these are just details.

It should also comfort to recognize that, in the final analysis , these sums are operating to purify decision-making.

That, in the final analysis , is what organizational control is all about.

The pressures driving research evaluation are, in the final analysis , political.

The shift of leadership to John Smith may seem temporarily convincing, but it is in the last analysis cosmetic.

The Trotskyist movement could benefit only in the final analysis and in the long range.

last rites

Both were given last rites before being taken into the operating room.

But they can not perform Catholic sacramental duties, such as hearing confession, offering Communion or giving last rites .

It might as well have been the last rites .

So he did what he has become accustomed to doing - gave the last rites .

The Steelers were one Hail Mary away from last rites .

They will have nothing to do with Catholic baptisms, marriages, or last rites .

When a priest arrived to administer the last rites , Mansell sent him away.

Your marriage has got off to an unfortunate start but it doesn't warrant the last rites just yet.

last thing

It was the last thing he ever saw.

Nobody can get to that last thing .

Right now the last thing she wanted was to have them say it to her.

The last thing Ardamal heard as he raced down the corridor was the tinkle of metal parts hitting the floor.

The last thing I will be is a high-wire walker.

This is the last thing President Mikhail Gorbachev needs, as he tries to contain a staggering economic crisis.

When you have a chance to shoot 59, the last thing you want to do is leave it short.

With household costs inevitably rising, the last thing he wants is a larger mortgage than he can reasonably afford.

last thing at night

Lock the doors and turn off the lights last thing at night .

The soldiers are supposed to polish their shoes last thing at night .

Empty ashtrays last thing at night , and don't smoke in bed.

It's the first thing I look at when I wake up, the last thing at night .

It was after dark; the last thing at night .

Of course, only in moderate quantities, and generally to be taken last thing at night .

The only times my father could be found in his room were first thing in the morning and last thing at night .

The rosary last thing at night .

This can be carried out last thing at night , once the puppy has been outside to relieve itself.

Why not set a few moments aside first thing in the morning and last thing at night ?

last/final resort

Great power status was in the last resort the ability to wage war.

In buildings of more than two storeys, wait for the fire brigade, and jump only as a last resort .

Lithium was to be a last resort , and it looked as if she needed some in October.

Only in the last resort , under careful international policing and after all other attempts at persuasion have been exhausted.

That was a last resort , they said.

The guidance emphasises that restraint should be used as a last resort within a caring and disciplined home environment.

They also want to use public community service jobs as a last resort , something Wilson strongly opposes.

Who is the lender of last resort stopping financial panics and capital outflows from bringing the system down?

not hear the last of sb

pay your last respects (to sb)

At the graveside, a volley of shots ... before a Hercules flew overhead to pay its last respects .

Many thousands paid their last respects to Dubcek at his funeral in Bratislava on Nov. 15.

The Krays, Richardsons, and many more villains had come to pay their last respects .

This was quite a normal thing at that time and neighbours would call to pay their last respects .

sb's/sth's last gasp

This cold spell appears to be winter's last gasp for the year.

But it also was the last gasp for a team on the slide.

Large-scale, publicly-owned enterprises will breathe their last gasp and wither away well before the state which spawned them.

Sometimes even negative change is interpreted as merely the last gasp of the resistant old order.

That is the way to add people on their last gasp to the repossessed list, not reduce it.

This is the last gasp of the Romantic revolution that Beethoven instigated.

Whether it is a rebirth or a last gasp remains to be seen.

see the last of sb/sth

I hope we've seen the last of Tina Hughes' stupid boyfriend!

All she did know was that she hadn't seen the last of him by a long chalk!

At the end of the ceremony, they would see the last of the candidates step into the silvery baptismal pool.

But still the house of Eli has not seen the last of it.

Hadn't she thought she'd seen the last of Rourke Deveraugh?

History is full of such isms, and we have hardly seen the last of them.

It was a relief to see the last of them.

We haven't seen the last of Bonnie.

We may not have seen the last of this controversy.

the last but one/the next but two etc

the last judgment

the last minute

And with so many players rushing into the market at the last minute , prices soared.

As expected, Rachel canceled at the last minute .

At the last minute a sense of something unsaid made her hurry after him.

At the last minute the parent would abandon its charade and fly off to safety.

At the last minute , McCain was relegated to the Oval Office.

Not all were satisfied that the last minute restrictions were necessary.

Work is still going on in fitting out a new store right up to the last minute .

the last moment

At the last moment he saw an apple lying on the dresser and put it in his pocket.

At the last moment , I looked up at the sky.

But at the last moment courage failed them.

I took the can carefully away at the last moment .

I was hoping to hit him, but he dove clear at the last moment .

In Madrid Casado triumphed and at the last moment Communist power was broken.

We keep getting ready to go to oh all sorts of places - but at the last moment something always comes up.

the last post

the last rites

the last straw

Making me work late on a Friday was the last straw !

Suzy lying to me about the money was the last straw .

And they felt that the pressures of her work had been the last straw .

For some reason that Jinny did not quite understand, it was the last straw .

For some, the effort to silence Zundel was the last straw .

His electoral thefts were the last straw .

Mr Brown said the planned charges were the last straw for customers already angry over banks' high-handed attitude.

My getting this malignancy is the last straw , in her opinion.

Recruitment of 40 top staff was the last straw .

Sending in bailiffs was the last straw .

the last thing sb wants/expects/needs etc

I like going to bed with her when going to bed with me is the last thing she wants.

To be slipshod is to be hounded, which is the last thing he wants.

With household costs inevitably rising, the last thing he wants is a larger mortgage than he can reasonably afford.

the last/final word

The final word rests with the board.

But the final word must be reserved for the destructive, disruptive role played by George Bush's administration.

But the project belonged ultimately to the pupils and they should have the last words .

By no means has the last word been written on the quantum Hall effect.

Dana was opinionated and liked to have the last word in an argument.

He had learned to let Leah have the last word .

Intimacy is probably the last word anyone would use in connection with the Coliseum.

Let that be the last word .

So they do; but that is not the last word , only the first.

the next to last

Stewart was assured of the championship in the next to last race of the year.

the/your last penny

They took everything she had, down to the last penny .

to a man/to the last man

too good to be true/to last

with your last/dying breath

With his last breath , he told me he would always love me.

II. adverb

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

Connect the red wires first and the black ones last .

I'm saving that chocolate for last .

I do all our dishes, and leave the dog's dish till last .

I was told I'll be speaking last .

The teacher called out my name last .

When I saw her last , she was pregnant.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

Despite experiencing tiredness and illness at times, she can't remember when she last took time off work.

Isetan shares were last offered at 1, 620 yen, down 1. 8 percent from its closing price yesterday.

Josie came out of the school almost last .

Oakland and the New York Mets last did it in 1973.

Yet there was a change in his lad since he had last seen him.

III. noun

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

At a press conference, Wiltshire Police revealed that Mrs Campbell had last been seen alive a week ago.

But I figured the jeans wouldn't last long.

Each one was hurrying to avoid being last .

It's good to see their interests being looked after at long last .

It was last to start and at this rate, will probably be last to finish.

Mr Evan's rages were noisy while they lasted but they didn't last long.

Only the leaders were mounted, and even that would not last long, although there were horse-boys behind with replacements.

She had been last noticed at the wheel of the car when the Josephs arrived there.

IV. verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADVERB

about

They were easy interviews and lasted about ten minutes.

He gave only one kind of sound, a grating, even-toned grunt that lasted about one second.

The journey lasts about twenty five minutes.

Such cycles last about 100 years and have consisted of three phases, each about a generation long.

This would last about 2-3 weeks, during which time I asked the family to make great efforts with the treatment plan.

At the outset of the campaign, allied spokesmen suggested the air-only phase was expected to last about ten days.

It lasts about 45 minutes, and is not usually Communion.

for

Depending on use, these will last for between 60 and 90 minutes of continuous operation.

It can thus invest on the assumption that the contract will not last for merely a year.

Its 3.3V design enables the battery to last for approximately eight hours.

We used Forest palisade poles, which are pressure-treated with preservative and guaranteed to last for at least fifteen years.

Furthermore, because projects can last for up to four months, an upturn could take time to emerge.

Hibernation lasts for between four and five months, from October until March or a little later in the north of Britain.

In fact the affair - if that's what it ever came to - lasted for only twenty days.

This arrangement appears to have lasted for around a century.

for ever

Like their love, it would last forever .

This atmosphere can perhaps last for some time, but it will not last forever .

The stench of the skunk seems to last forever .

Success is not going to last forever .

At the moment they think being with their parents is absolutely wonderful and that's not going to last forever .

When you bought that new computer a couple of years ago, you probably thought its 500-megabyte hard disk would last forever .

I want this voyage to last forever .

At the top of the bell-shaped curve, you feel as if your success will last forever .

long

The contest did not last long , but nearly 1500 were killed and wounded...

The ambiguity lasted long after Willie died.

When they did, walkouts never lasted long .

You don't last long in a job if you start killing people.

It was decomposing fast, of course, bodies don't last long in the sea, especially in this weather.

This didn't last long , however, as one customer thought it was there to be consumed!

The tequila didn't last long .

longer

Eddie Gray was a great player too and lasted longer than Best.

One town that has lasted longer than most is Bisbee.

I do go for designer clothes most of the time, because they last longer and are a far better quality.

Making these uses less energy, and they last longer than the cast iron drains and sewers they replace.

He noted, in passing, that he had lasted longer than Texas Sen.

Blanche wished her patience had lasted longer but she shrugged stoically.

The flowers will last longer in the cooler air, too.

■ NOUN

century

They stayed on in Constantinople and became the nucleus of the Varangian Guard, which lasted for many centuries .

They lasted more than a century and still determine much of national life.

Some of this can be 1,000 times more radioactive than low-level waste, and its activity will last centuries rather than decades.

Instead, heavy trade restrictions were levied, driving the young country into a period of isolation that lasted over a century .

This arrangement appears to have lasted for around a century .

Plenty of mysteries have lasted for centuries and finally yielded to explanation.

course

He had even tried to stop drinking a couple of times for me, though of course it never lasted .

The course lasts for two years and is a combination of taught lectures, tutorials and practical experience.

Those with a professional approach have provided structured courses for church musicians lasting a year or more.

This course lasts for the equivalent of three terms, and has two distinct parts.

The Lyons course was scheduled to last four years, but few pupils stayed much more than a year.

The full course last from January to November 1993, but it is made up of six separate units.

day

They were able to reflect that their wanderings at sea had lasted precisely forty days and forty nights.

The meeting lasted two days and the competitors were billeted out in the homes of local schoolchildren.

The initial period lasts for 20 working days .

If the engagement lasts several days , like this festival, the first half drags.

At first his visit was intended to last only a few days .

The symptoms of flu may last several days , usually starting with a high temperature often with a headache.

days

A similar Flosse-Vernaudon coalition in 1982 had lasted only 110 days .

Because of this search, the Mysteries last nine days , with a torchlit procession during the middle night.

The sergeant has denied assault, in a trial that's expected to last five days .

The moratorium would last 45 days but could be extended for up to two years.

In a bad season there may be one or two breaks in the wind pattern lasting four to seven days .

Normally, a stand down would last three days or so.

The initial period lasts for 20 working days .

Their conversations lasted seventeen days and ended in zero.

decade

Some of this can be 1,000 times more radioactive than low-level waste, and its activity will last centuries rather than decades .

It was a life that would last for a decade , and die with the war.

Many of these lakes last for decades if not centuries and are used by several generations of beavers.

Passage of the 1994 law came after a bitter fight that lasted nearly a decade .

The move, condemned by the International Labour Organization, led to a dispute which lasted through the decade .

What does it mean to say that a marriage which may have lasted decades was never valid?

Thus began a rich collaboration between the two that has lasted nearly five decades .

Give it six years and it should enter a terrific mature period that should last at least a decade .

hour

He was speaking after a meeting with Sir Patrick Mayhew which lasted more than an hour .

Rush hour lasts half an hour, and bicycles remain a realistic form of transportation.

More than 100 people attended the seminar, which was mean to last one-and-half hours but continued for three!

Then, the evening emergence lasts half an hour .

The visit lasted over an hour during which time Neil Kinnock experienced at first hand what carpet manufacturing was all about.

I thought it would last about half an hour .

The meeting lasted almost two hours .

There are guided tours lasting approximately an hour round the Town Hall.

hours

Helpers approaching have sometimes been bitten or attacked wildly in the delirium that follows and which may last as long as twelve tormented hours .

These divagations last several hours , and at no point does Blue have the sense that Black is walking to any purpose.

When such dinners can last for hours , a well-upholstered seat is essential.

The dreamlike flight lasted four hours .

Over 100 interviews were carried out, lasting some 170 hours in all, as well as several shorter, informal conversations.

She tried again the next day at a lower pump pressure and lasted two hours and fifteen minutes.

Our sense of achievement lasted the few hours until we collected the kids.

The movie lasts almost three hours and the two stars spend around 10 minutes together.

journey

The journey on the ferry lasted just half an hour.

The journey lasts about twenty five minutes.

The train journey lasted all day, and it was dark when they arrived at the station.

The caravan journey lasted no more than a mile.

The journey was meant to last three hours, but the train always left at least an hour late.

lifetime

Good looks can last your lifetime !

The second benefit is long lasting; in fact, it lasts a lifetime .

We've had enough of fair-haired people here to last us a lifetime !

Grief following any death can last a lifetime .

Eating smoked salmon while talking to Johnny Prescott had seemed to last a lifetime .

Indeed, the overwhelming fascination of men with female youth argues that pair bonds have lasted lifetimes .

In a single sentence, Pope John provided the Council with a method and commentators with material that could last a lifetime .

Properly cared for, however, they can last a lifetime , even become heirlooms.

minute

No song lasted more than three minutes , and after each the carrot-haired kid cursed us to death.

The seizure usually lasts about 1 minute and is typically followed by a brief period of confusion.

The trial of the 22-year-old player lasted 45 minutes .

It lasted only a minute and stopped.

Not for the first time this season, he was lucky to last 90 minutes .

The obligatory standing ovation when he first entered the game against the Golden State Warriors lasted less than a minute .

Begin increasing training intensity as soon as you can last the 20 minutes .

This stalemate lasted an excruciating minute until Ray sat down.

minutes

A test session lasting 30 minutes or more is not unusual.

A 6-3 third set lasted only 26 perfunctory minutes .

I try and believe in important things and they don't last for five minutes .

Each pre-shift meeting should last 20 minutes , not two or three, and emphasize selling strategies.

His opening statement to the commission was a rambling affair lasting 75 minutes .

It lasted about 20 minutes , time only for a few film clips.

The whole proceedings lasted only twenty-three minutes and assurances were given that the House would be kept informed.

month

For £14.50 you can buy a season ticket to last four months .

It was Desmond who put me on the game - that lasted for a few months , then I got fed up with it.

A truce of sorts lasted until a month ago when the Gabrielsens revoked the agreement, their legal right under its provisions.

It is expected to last two months with a break between June 19 and July 7.

It would last for another six months , but by the time it ended, intimate revue was finally dead.

He did not last six months .

months

His longest relationship had lasted three months , and he had few friends.

It lasted a nerve-racking eight months .

The condition can last for months , but it goes away completely in time.

Holiness aside, he was ill-suited for the papal office; he lasted five months in the Vatican.

For £40.00 you can buy a season ticket to last 12 months .

It was Desmond who put me on the game - that lasted for a few months , then I got fed up with it.

Such a suspension can last for months or years.

night

Oliver Ingraham said that the emergency nurses had told him he should be prepared: Jasper might not last the night .

She can't last the night through.

Such meetings can last all day and night , or for the duration of the trip.

The highs can last all night - the lows a life-time.

His clemency had earned him the regard of the West and would, surely, last until Twelfth Night .

peace

To make sure that the peace lasts , ask other friends and family for help.

Despite his calls for moderation, however, he must have known that peace would not last .

period

Never over-exercise; the ideal period should not last longer than 15 minutes.

Instead, heavy trade restrictions were levied, driving the young country into a period of isolation that lasted over a century.

The initial period lasts for 20 working days.

The first period lasts until age 7 or 8.

The training period lasted from July 2 to August 25, with area studies concentrated in the final month.

Give it six years and it should enter a terrific mature period that should last at least a decade.

Then I got worried when my period lasted a month.

rest

He had seen enough terror there to last him the rest of his days.

If only this day could last for the rest of her life.

As we drove back through Johannesburg, I wondered if I would be able to last the rest of the week.

It develops a state of mind which lasts for the rest of one's life; an approach to things.

In 1832 Nicholas made a trade agreement with Washington which lasted for the rest of the century.

seconds

My irritation at the contrivance lasted for 30 seconds .

One of them was a local boxer from Medfield who lasted 89 seconds with Mike Tyson.

The witnesses would say later that the searingly brilliant white flash seemed to last for several seconds .

This process should last only a few seconds or the coral will begin to dissolve.

It lasted only about 60 seconds , and perhaps it doesn't sound like a particularly memorable sighting.

It lasted only a few seconds before a vision of terror struck them dumb.

trial

The trial lasted for a month, but no reports of the proceedings had appeared.

That phase of the trial is expected to last only a week.

The trial is expected to last several weeks.

The trial is expected to last about a week, attorneys said.

Bedworth's trial , expected to last three weeks, continues.

The trial lasted for over a month.

In contrast to Guinness I, Ward's trial lasted just six weeks and was based on one charge.

war

The alliance should prepare for a conventional war lasting no more than a few days.

But the war has lasted a long time and you learn to cope with such things.

I wondered just how long the war would last .

All these countries are deep in civil wars that have lasted for years-or even decades.

They all prayed that the war wouldn't last long.

Little did we imagine then that the war would last until November 1918.

week

He had been admitted with a fever which had lasted for three weeks .

He thought she might not last a week at Anpetuwi.

The trial is expected to last about a week .

The trial, the first of its kind, is expected to last three weeks .

It was the beginning of a siege that would last a week .

weeks

Family credit lasts for 26 weeks at a time, then you will have to reapply.

When the hypercalcemia is due to toxicity from vitamin D2 therapy, it may last for several weeks .

Taylor suggests that in more than 50% of cases of acute H pylori infection, hypochlorhydria lasts for several weeks .

The situation worsened when another shutdown began on Dec. 16. and lasted more than three weeks .

In the spring of 1785 Leopold Mozart paid his son a visit lasting 10 weeks .

The chorea tends to occur several months after rheumatic fever and lasts four to six weeks at most.

Complaints lasting for days or weeks from excitement of the emotions, worry or vexation.

The trial, held in the cafeteria of the Youth Guidance Center, lasted four weeks .

year

The death of a pit is the end of an era, in some cases lasting more than 100 years .

He calculates the car will last two more years after which he thinks he will be able to sell it for £400.

Coal reserves have also expanded worldwide, with Britain's contribution expected to last several hundred years .

Those with a professional approach have provided structured courses for church musicians lasting a year or more.

The 1975 definition was an exceptionally pure version that had not been current previously and only lasted a year or two.

years

He calculates the car will last two more years after which he thinks he will be able to sell it for £400.

Typically lasts 10 to 15 years , depending on the brand.

The course lasts for two years and is a combination of taught lectures, tutorials and practical experience.

The probe has lasted for nearly two years and in its final days has split the House into warring partisan camps.

It is extraordinary that their image of being hardworking, respectable and down-to-earth has lasted for so many years .

Typically lasts up to 50 years .

Replacement of curling stones is long-delayed as a pair of stones can last up to 25 years .

■ VERB

build

It was built to last , and the vaulted classrooms now serve as tearooms for any tourists intrepid enough to reach them.

That was built to last if anything ever was.

So offices were built to last .

A sleek executive saloon that's built to last .

Old Hercule's stuff had been built to last , she reflected ruefully as she turned on the shower.

Alexandra Palace was built to last .

expect

The sergeant has denied assault, in a trial that's expected to last five days.

Few expected Reno to last to the end of Clinton's term.

Marriage was expected to last for life and adultery and fornication were punished in the ecclesiastical courts.

It is a situation expected to last out the century, at the least.

One of the problems of today's eating habits is that people expect food to last over longer periods.

I had embarked on a life-time career that I expected would last for the following forty years.

It is expected to last two months with a break between June 19 and July 7.

That phase of the trial is expected to last only a week.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

at the last count

At the last count , only 18 Japanese firms were making car parts in America.

There are a lot of professional athletes living in the Orlando area -- more than 100 at last count .

Apart from Summerchild and a clerical assistant, the Unit at the last count still consisted of one single member, Serafin herself.

I have, at the last count , 19 separate applications under consideration by 12 separate funding bodies.

It has now become a challenge to find new varieties of herb - at the last count there were just over 130.

More than 200, in fact, at the last count .

My sister Mahaud, at the last count , had more admirers than there are Elks.

The total world population was put at 190 at the last count .

They have been joined by a growing group of people denied entry, 198 at the last count .

Yet at the last count there were six oil-rich states bordering the Gulf.

be down to your last pound/dollar/litre etc

be sb's last/only/best hope

Advocates just seem to take it on faith that annexation is the only hope of salvation for this city.

But mad or not, you are my only hope , Meg.

But Thomas Sachs was now her only hope .

I expected to be disappointed, though the letter was now my only hope .

In the long term, Mr Heseltine said that privatisation was the only hope for the industry.

Is he only hoping to make money?

Robert Urquhart was her only hope , her only ally.

That was the only hope I had of reaching the doctor.

be the last thing on sb's mind

Marriage is the last thing on my mind right now.

every (last) ounce of courage/energy/strength etc

It had taken every ounce of courage she possessed to board the aircraft after her last experience.

famous last words

So he said, with those famous last words, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

first and last

And a system whose first and last resort was all too often expediency.

At Banff I climbed my first and last mountain - Mount Rundle.

For the first and last time in her life, Amelia was too preoccupied to interact with her peers.

I sat back and treated myself to a cigarette, determined to make it the first and last of the day.

Instead of pressing the spacebar anywhere between the first and last characters of the text, press the Home spacebar.

It was the first and last time that management capitulated in the face of a departing mortgage trader.

She wrote that she was dying of a fever, and asked him to visit her for the first and last time.

These records included the first and last dates of all absences and the reason for absence.

have the last laugh

Boy did he have the last laugh .

Holding a rolling pin and determined to have the last laugh .

Yet women drivers have the last laugh .

in the final/last analysis

In the final analysis Stalin was just as much a dictator as Hitler.

In the final analysis , the project was a failure.

The responsibility for the accident must, in the last analysis , rest with the captain.

And, in the final analysis , are they any good?

But in the final analysis it had been he who wanted out.

But in the final analysis , these are just details.

It should also comfort to recognize that, in the final analysis , these sums are operating to purify decision-making.

That, in the final analysis , is what organizational control is all about.

The pressures driving research evaluation are, in the final analysis , political.

The shift of leadership to John Smith may seem temporarily convincing, but it is in the last analysis cosmetic.

The Trotskyist movement could benefit only in the final analysis and in the long range.

last rites

Both were given last rites before being taken into the operating room.

But they can not perform Catholic sacramental duties, such as hearing confession, offering Communion or giving last rites .

It might as well have been the last rites .

So he did what he has become accustomed to doing - gave the last rites .

The Steelers were one Hail Mary away from last rites .

They will have nothing to do with Catholic baptisms, marriages, or last rites .

When a priest arrived to administer the last rites , Mansell sent him away.

Your marriage has got off to an unfortunate start but it doesn't warrant the last rites just yet.

last thing

It was the last thing he ever saw.

Nobody can get to that last thing .

Right now the last thing she wanted was to have them say it to her.

The last thing Ardamal heard as he raced down the corridor was the tinkle of metal parts hitting the floor.

The last thing I will be is a high-wire walker.

This is the last thing President Mikhail Gorbachev needs, as he tries to contain a staggering economic crisis.

When you have a chance to shoot 59, the last thing you want to do is leave it short.

With household costs inevitably rising, the last thing he wants is a larger mortgage than he can reasonably afford.

last thing at night

Lock the doors and turn off the lights last thing at night .

The soldiers are supposed to polish their shoes last thing at night .

Empty ashtrays last thing at night , and don't smoke in bed.

It's the first thing I look at when I wake up, the last thing at night .

It was after dark; the last thing at night .

Of course, only in moderate quantities, and generally to be taken last thing at night .

The only times my father could be found in his room were first thing in the morning and last thing at night .

The rosary last thing at night .

This can be carried out last thing at night , once the puppy has been outside to relieve itself.

Why not set a few moments aside first thing in the morning and last thing at night ?

last/final resort

Great power status was in the last resort the ability to wage war.

In buildings of more than two storeys, wait for the fire brigade, and jump only as a last resort .

Lithium was to be a last resort , and it looked as if she needed some in October.

Only in the last resort , under careful international policing and after all other attempts at persuasion have been exhausted.

That was a last resort , they said.

The guidance emphasises that restraint should be used as a last resort within a caring and disciplined home environment.

They also want to use public community service jobs as a last resort , something Wilson strongly opposes.

Who is the lender of last resort stopping financial panics and capital outflows from bringing the system down?

pay your last respects (to sb)

At the graveside, a volley of shots ... before a Hercules flew overhead to pay its last respects .

Many thousands paid their last respects to Dubcek at his funeral in Bratislava on Nov. 15.

The Krays, Richardsons, and many more villains had come to pay their last respects .

This was quite a normal thing at that time and neighbours would call to pay their last respects .

sb's/sth's last gasp

This cold spell appears to be winter's last gasp for the year.

But it also was the last gasp for a team on the slide.

Large-scale, publicly-owned enterprises will breathe their last gasp and wither away well before the state which spawned them.

Sometimes even negative change is interpreted as merely the last gasp of the resistant old order.

That is the way to add people on their last gasp to the repossessed list, not reduce it.

This is the last gasp of the Romantic revolution that Beethoven instigated.

Whether it is a rebirth or a last gasp remains to be seen.

the last but one/the next but two etc

the last judgment

the last minute

And with so many players rushing into the market at the last minute , prices soared.

As expected, Rachel canceled at the last minute .

At the last minute a sense of something unsaid made her hurry after him.

At the last minute the parent would abandon its charade and fly off to safety.

At the last minute , McCain was relegated to the Oval Office.

Not all were satisfied that the last minute restrictions were necessary.

Work is still going on in fitting out a new store right up to the last minute .

the last moment

At the last moment he saw an apple lying on the dresser and put it in his pocket.

At the last moment , I looked up at the sky.

But at the last moment courage failed them.

I took the can carefully away at the last moment .

I was hoping to hit him, but he dove clear at the last moment .

In Madrid Casado triumphed and at the last moment Communist power was broken.

We keep getting ready to go to oh all sorts of places - but at the last moment something always comes up.

the last post

the last rites

the last straw

Making me work late on a Friday was the last straw !

Suzy lying to me about the money was the last straw .

And they felt that the pressures of her work had been the last straw .

For some reason that Jinny did not quite understand, it was the last straw .

For some, the effort to silence Zundel was the last straw .

His electoral thefts were the last straw .

Mr Brown said the planned charges were the last straw for customers already angry over banks' high-handed attitude.

My getting this malignancy is the last straw , in her opinion.

Recruitment of 40 top staff was the last straw .

Sending in bailiffs was the last straw .

the last thing sb wants/expects/needs etc

I like going to bed with her when going to bed with me is the last thing she wants.

To be slipshod is to be hounded, which is the last thing he wants.

With household costs inevitably rising, the last thing he wants is a larger mortgage than he can reasonably afford.

the last/final word

The final word rests with the board.

But the final word must be reserved for the destructive, disruptive role played by George Bush's administration.

But the project belonged ultimately to the pupils and they should have the last words .

By no means has the last word been written on the quantum Hall effect.

Dana was opinionated and liked to have the last word in an argument.

He had learned to let Leah have the last word .

Intimacy is probably the last word anyone would use in connection with the Coliseum.

Let that be the last word .

So they do; but that is not the last word , only the first.

the next to last

Stewart was assured of the championship in the next to last race of the year.

the/your last penny

They took everything she had, down to the last penny .

to a man/to the last man

too good to be true/to last

with your last/dying breath

With his last breath , he told me he would always love me.

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

$400 won't last you long in Chicago.

A can of baby formula costing $6.00 will last you three to four days.

Analysts are confident the downturn in share prices will not last long.

Cheap saucepans can't really be expected to last .

Each consultation can last between 10 minutes and half an hour.

He knew they only had enough food to last another three days.

Her operation lasted around three hours.

His breathing was getting worse and he was not expected to last the night.

I still have $100, but that won't last until the end of the vacation.

I wanted the weekend to last forever.

It's amazing how long this car has lasted, really.

It's amazing that she's managed to last this long, really.

It's hard to say how much longer the astronauts will last without fresh supplies.

It's not certain how long the ceasefire will last .

It's the worst cold I've ever had, but luckily it didn't last very long.

Mexico achieved a remarkable 8% annual growth rate, but the new prosperity did not last .

Most batteries last for about 8 hours.

Ours was a happy marriage, but I always feared it wouldn't last .

rainstorms lasting all night long

Some wine-makers will tell you that a cask lasts only for four years.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

Bedworth's trial, expected to last three weeks, continues.

Helpers approaching have sometimes been bitten or attacked wildly in the delirium that follows and which may last as long as twelve tormented hours.

Of course it would not last .

Phase 1 started in July 1980 and lasted 3 years, during which 2.5 million households were visited.

The attack usually lasts for several minutes but can go on much longer.

Within himself, however, it felt as though his stay had lasted three or four hours at most.

V. noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

long

It's good to see their interests being looked after at long last .

At long last came the passing out.

He also knew that the next few minutes could lose what chance had so miraculously delivered up to him at long last .

The 17 months of agony washed away at long last .

However, as you probably know, the Earnings Rule was at long last abolished at the start of October 1989.

Remembering the kiss he had given her after breakfast it seemed as if their relationship might at long last have changed.

Perhaps it's a real fire at long last .

Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last ?

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

It's good to see their interests being looked after at long last .

It was last to start and at this rate, will probably be last to finish.

Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary.      Дополнительный английский словарь Longman DOCE5.