: something done only if nothing else works Asking for more time should be our last resort.

What is an example of last resort?

If you do something as a last resort, you do it because you can find no other way of getting out of a difficult situation or of solving a problem. Nuclear weapons should be used only as a last resort.

Why do we say last resort?

The idiom last resort comes from the French, en dernier ressort, which means last resort and originally referred to a court from which there could be no appeal–the decision was final. The term last resort has been in use in the English language since the 1600s.