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eleventh

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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.

See also: eleventh, hour

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.

See also: 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

at the eleventh hour

almost too late Negotiators reached agreement at the eleventh hour, just in time to avoid a strike.

See also: eleventh, hour

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]

See also: eleventh, hour