Last-minute

Definition: Last-minute

Last-minute

Adjective

1. Just before a deadline; at the last minute; "last-minute arrangements".

Date "last-minute" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1960. (references)

Crosswords: Last-minute

Specialty definitions using "last-minute": README file. (references)

Domain

Usage

Screenplays

Salvation is a last-minute business, boy. (The Night of the Hunter; writing credit: James Agee; Davis Grubb)

Hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. (Christmas Vacation; writing credit: John Hughes)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Crash Course for the Act: The Last-Minute Guide to Scoring High (Princeton Review Series) (reference) The Last-Minute Party Girl: Fashionable, Fearless, and Foolishly Simple Entertaining (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		However, given the trend towards last-minute bookings, which already account for 20 percent of the total package market, tour operators might not receive payment until the client has already traveled. (references)
		Cedok's focus was also on outbound clients, whose numbers rose by a third during 1999 to 180,000. In the first half of 2000, Cedok sold almost 150,000 foreign tour packages, showing a slight year-on-year rise and plans to sell a total of 180,000 tours this year. The agency will begin offering last-minute tours via Internet with the help of Citibank's payment system. (references)
		Even if Italians know their vacation schedule well in advance, they usually book their vacations very late. In 1999, last-minute offers (departure fewer than 15 days before purchase) counted for 31% of all travel packages sold, while 54% of packages were sold between 15 and 30 days before departure -- while 47% of Italians have their main summer vacation between March and May. In the past couple of years, some tour operators have attempted to discourage last minute or late bookings by offering discounts to those booking their vacations in 45-90 days in advance with some positive results. (references)
Economic History	Egypt	Most of these shows consist exclusively of Egyptian distributors/dealers/agents of foreign suppliers, or local manufacturers -- not because they purposely exclude foreigners but because of poor marketing and last-minute preparations. (references)
Human Rights	Mauritania	The trial was marred by numerous irregularities, including a questionable last-minute change of venue, contradictory prosecution witnesses, and a lack of physical evidence. (references)
Political Rights	Croatia	Outstanding concerns included the hurried last-minute drafting of the election law, provisions on minority representation that do not clearly spell out procedures for achieving minority balance in local bodies (and that still await data from the April 2001 census), the lack of a permanent state electoral commission, the lack of transparency in parties' campaign expenditures, and the lack of regulations for campaign financing. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

"Last-minute" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Last-minute" is used about 345 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)	100%	345	15,401

Language		Translations for "last-minute"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Chinese		高潮性. (various references)

Finnish		viimeiset tiedot (last-minute news, latest news). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		泥縄式 (eleventh-hour). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		どろなわしき (eleventh-hour). (various references)

Pig Latin		ast-minutelay
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-e-i-l-m-n-s-t-t-u"
	-1 letter: auntliest, mentalist, mutilates, stimulant, stimulate, ultimates.
	-2 letters: ailments, aliments, alumines, alunites, antismut, insulate, lutanist, lutenist, maltiest, manliest, mantlets, melanist, metalist, minutest, mutilate, nutmeats, simulant, simulate, smaltine, smaltite, ultimate.
	-3 letters: ailment, aliment, alumine, alumins, alunite, amulets, attunes, aunties, elastin, eluants, entails, etamins, etatism, inmates, instate, inulase, laments, latents, lattens, lattins, luniest, luteins, malines, manitus, mantels, mantles, mantlet, mattins, menials, minuets, minutes, mistune, mittens, muletas, mutants, mutates, mutines, nailset, nutates, nutlets, nutmeat, salient, saltine, satinet, seminal, sinuate, situate, slainte, smitten, talents, tameins, tautens, tenails, tetanus, tsunami, ultimas, unstate, utensil.
	-4 letters: aliens, alines, alumin, alumni, aments, amines, amulet, animes, animus, astute, attune, auntie, autism, elains, elints, eluant, emails, enlist, entail, etamin, inlets, inmate, inseam, instal, insult, lament, lamest, latens, latent, latest, latten, lattes, lattin, lemans, lianes, limans, limens, linums, listen, litmus, litten, lumens, lumina, lunate, lunets, lunies, lutein, lutist, mailes, maline, manitu, mantel, mantes, mantis, mantle, matins, mattes, mattin, meatus, menial, mensal, mental, mesial, mesian, metals, miauls, minuet, minute, misate, miseat, mitten, muesli, muleta, muslin, mutant, mutase, mutate, mutest, mutine, nutate, nutlet, saline, saltie, salute, samiel, samite, samlet, semina, silane, silent, simnel, sitten, smalti, stamen, statue, stelai, sultan, sunlit, taints, talent, tamein, tamest, tanist, taunts, tauten, telium, tenail, tenias, tenuis, tenuti, tineal, tineas, tinsel, tisane, titans, titles, titman, titmen, ulemas, ultima, unites, unseal, unseam, unseat, untame, unties.
	-5 letters: aisle, alien, aline, alist, almes, alums, amens, ament, amies, amine, amins, amuse, anile, anils, anime, anise, antes, antis, atilt, aunts, elain, elans, elint, email, emits, entia, etnas, etuis, ileum, ileus, inlet, inset, islet, istle, items, lames, lanes, laten, latte, leans, leant, least, leman, lenis, liane, liens, lieus, liman, limas, limen, limes, limns, lines, lints, linum, litas, lumen, lunas, lunes, lunet, lunts, lutea, lutes, maile, mails, mains, maist, males, malts, manes, manse, manus, mates, matin, matte, matts, mauls, mauts, meals, means, meant, meats, melts, mensa, menta, menus, metal, metis, miaul, miens, miles, milts, minae, minas, mines, mints, minus, mites, mitts, mules, munis, mutes, mutts, nails, names, nates, neats, neist, nemas, netts, neums, nites, saint, salmi, satem, satin, sault, saute, senti, setal, slain, slant, slate, slime, smalt, smelt, smile, smite, snail, stain, stale, stane, state, steal, steam, stein, stela, stile, stilt, stime, stint, stunt, suint, suite, sutta, taels, tails, tains, taint, tales, talus, tames, tamis, taste, tates, taunt, tauts, teals, teams, teats, telia, tenia, tents, tesla, testa, tiles, tilts, times, tinea, tines, tints, titan, title, tules, tunas, tunes, ulans, ulema, ulnae, ulnas, unais, unite, units, unlet, unlit, unmet, unset, untie, until, usnea.
	Words containing the letters "a-e-i-l-m-n-s-t-t-u"
	+2 letters: curtailments, instrumental, multivalents, simultaneity, ultimateness.
	+3 letters: documentalist, instrumentals, multimegatons, multistranded, restimulating, restimulation, supermilitant, unsentimental.
	+4 letters: antepenultimas, documentalists, fundamentalist, instrumentally, intermenstrual, metalinguistic, multifilaments, outmanipulates, restimulations, simultaneities, ultimatenesses, ultramodernist.
	+5 letters: fundamentalists, hemagglutinates, instrumentalism, instrumentalist, instrumentality, intellectualism, metalinguistics, monumentalities, noninstrumental, overstimulating, overstimulation, semitranslucent, supplementation, transilluminate, ultramodernists.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.