last 
Harl be 30 sutlers Isouters] with your nianl tettra. 
Karly KIUJ. Poems (ed. Kurnivall), xxxiv. 3. 
.Should the bin LttHtf extern! the shoe loo wide, 
Each .stonu wilt wrench I IT unwary .Step aside. 
<!<in. Trivia, i. 
The cobbler IM not to go beyond his last [a free render- 
ing of the- Latin proverb ".Ne sutor ultni m-piditm "]. 
Sir K. L' Estrange. 
last 1 (last), r. t. [< lax ft, .] To form on or by 
a last ; fit to a last, as the materials for a boot 
or shoo. 
last'-* (last), ''. [< MK. lasten, lesten, < AS. lees- 
tun, follow, accompany, attend, observe, per- 
form, continue, last (= OS. lestian = OFries. 
ttiHta, Icsta = OHG. MHG. G. leisten, follow out, 
= Goth. laitttjim, follow after), lit. 'track,' < last, 
a track, footprint: seolasft, .] I.f trans. To 
follow out; carry out; perform; do. 
That ic haue hoten we], 
Ic It sal leiten euerilc del. 
Generis and Exodus (E. E. T. 8.\ 1. 2900. 
And thel ben false and traitorous and lasten not that 
tliel bihoten [promise]. Mandeaille, Travels, p. -262. 
II. intrant. If. To extend; reach. 
He hathe made a Duchee that leateth unto the Lond of 
Nyflan, and marchethe to Pruysse. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 7. 
2. To continue to be; remain in existence; 
continue in progress. 
And thorowe thy grace I am nat A-gast, 
What sorowe or sykenes to me thou sende, 
To sutfyr whyle my lyffe wole taste. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnlvall), p. 178. 
They bothe were in batell while the batell last, 
And euther sawte & assembly see with there een. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.\ L 57. 
Two days this Feast latteth, in which they dense their 
graues and glue presents to the Bonzy. 
Purehas, Pilgrimage, p. 528. 
Generations pass while some trees stand, and old fami- 
lies latt not three oaks. Sir T. Browne, Urn-burial, v. 
The rock for ever f>i '.-, the tears for ever flow. 
Pope, Iliad, xxlv. 779. 
That man may last, but never lives, 
Who much receives but nothing gives. 
7'. (lib/Mia, When Jesus Dwelt. 
3. To hold out; continue unexhausted or un- 
consumed; escape failure or loss. 
I beg of you to know me, good my lord, 
To accept ray grief, and, whilst this poor wealth lasts, 
To entertain me as your steward still. 
Shot., T. of A., iv. 3. 496. 
I pray my legs 
Will last that pace that I will carry them. 
Beau, and Fl., Maid's Tragedy, lit 2. 
Can the burning coal 
Of thy affection last without the fuel 
Of counter love ? Quarles, Emblems, v. 8. 
The days of childhood are too sweet to last ! Cities, like 
men, grow out of them in time, and are doomed alike to 
grow into the bustle, the cares, and miseries of the world. 
Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 177. 
4. To continue unimpaired; remain fresh, un- 
f in led, or unspoiled; continue to be available or 
serviceable ; wear well : as, this color will last. 
Ham. How long will a man lie i' the earth ere he rot? 
1st Clotcn. . . . He will last you some eight year, or nine 
year. Shak., Hamlet, v. 1. 183. 
And love will last as pure and whole 
As when he loved me here in Time. 
Ti ,11111*111. In Memoriam, xlUI. 
Love to God and love to man are the only motives which 
will last. J. F. Clarke, Self-Culture, p. S&4. 
last 2 (last), n. [< 7o*2, r.] Power of holding 
out; endurance; stamina. [Bare.] 
What one has always felt about the masters is, that It's 
a fair trial of skill and last between us and them like a 
match at foot- ball, or a battle. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, u. 7. 
Space is nothing to a traveller [the antelope] with such 
speed and such last. T. Roosevelt, Hunting Trips, p. 204. 
last a (last), n. [< ME. last, < AS. Mast, a load 
(= OFries. hlcst = D. last = MLG. LG. last = 
OHG. Mast, last, MHG. G. last, a load, = Icel. 
Mass = Dan. lirs = Sw. lass, a cart-load, _also 
Icel. lest, a load (< Sw. Dan.), = Dan. Sw. last, a 
load), (hlailan, lade, load : see ladei. Hence in 
comp. ballast. The E. Icsfi, ballast, is of LG. 
origin.] If. A burden; a load; a cargo. 
God yeve this monk a thousand last quad yeer (cargoes of 
bad years). Chaucer, ProL to Prioress's Tale, L 4. 
2. A load of some commodity with reference to 
its weight and commercial value ; hence, a par- 
ticular weight or measure, varying in amount 
in different localities and for different com- 
modities. As an absolute measure, a last is generally 
reckoned at 4,000 pounds ; but the word is now rarely met 
with, and only in local or technical use. A last of flax 
or feathers is 1,700 pounds ; of wool, 12 sacks ; of corn, 10 
quarters or 80 bushels ; of meal or ashes, 12 barrels ; of 
gunpowder, 24 barrels; of codfish or white herrings, 12 
barrels ; of red herrings, 20 cades (of 600 or 720 fishes 
each) ; of pitch or tar, 14 barrels. A last of leather is given 
3361 
as 20 dickers of 10 hides each : hut a last of hide* U IS 
dozen. 
They will pay ... for a last of hides to bee cuyed out 
of our retime and dominion halfc a marke aboue that which 
heretofore was payed. HaUuytt Voyaaet, I. 137. 
Even as In ships of war, whose lastt of powder 
Are laid, men think, to make them but. 
Chapman, Buuy D'AmboU, v. 1. 
These fishing ships doe take yeerely two hundred thou- 
sand latt of fth, tweluc barrels to a latt, which amounts to 
300000 pounds by the flshermens price. 
Quoted In Capt. John Stnith't Work*, II. 217. 
Iast 4 t (last), n. [ME. last, lest, < Icel. lostr 
(last-), fault, = Dan. 8w. last, vice ; cf. OS. las- 
tar = OHG. lastar, MHG. G. latter, blame, 
abuse; AS. leahtor, blame; from a verb rep- 
resented by AS. lean = OHG. lahan, blame.] 
Fault. 
last*t (last), v. t. [< ME. lasten = OHG. lasta- 
ron, MHG. lasteren, lastern, Q. lastern = Icel. 
lasta = Dan. laste = Sw. lasta, blame; from 
the noun.] To find fault with ; blame. 
last 5 (last), a. and n. [< ME. last, latst, cor.tr. 
form of latest (= OS. letisto, latsto, lasto, last, 
= OFries. letast = D. lest = LG. leste, lest = 
OHG. lazzost, lezist, lezzest, lecist, MHG. leteest, 
letzst, letet, G. letzt, last, = Icel. latastr), su- 
perl. of late: see /ate 1 .] I. a. 1. That comes or 
remains after all the others ; latest; hindmost; 
closing; final; ultimate. 
Now, our Joy [Cordelia], 
Although the last, not least. 
Shot., Lear, L 1. 86. 
Bear them unto their last beds, whilst I study 
A tomb to speak their loves whilst old Time fasteth. 
Beau, and Fl., Thierry and Theodoret, v. 2. 
Your last to me was in French of the first Current. 
lloictll. Letters, I. vi. 16. 
My latest found, 
Heaven's last, best gift, my ever new delight ! 
Milton, P. L., v. 18. 
If I should live to be 
The fast leaf upon the tree. 
O. W. Holmes, The Last Leaf. 
2. Next before the present : as, last week ; on 
the last occasion. 
Last morning you could not see to wipe my shoes. 
Shale., T. Q. of V.,ii. 1.86. 
Last noon beheld them full of lusty life, 
Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gaj. 
Byron, Childe Harold, iii 28. 
A merry song we sang with him 
Last year. Tennyson, In Memoriam, xxx. 
3. Utmost; extreme. 
To see vain fools ambitiously contend 
For wit and power ; their last endeavours bend, 
T' outshine each other. 
Dryden, tr. of Lucretius, it 13. 
This city, remarkable in ancient times for its defence 
against Hannibal, was of the last importance. 
Pretcott, Ferd. and I - .. . ii. 10. 
The Lord of all the landscape round 
Ev'n to its last horizon. Tennyton, Aylmer's Field. 
4. Lowest; meanest. 
But many that are first shall be last ; and the latt shall 
be first Mat. xir. 30. 
AntOochus . . . 
Takes the last prize. 
Pope, Iliad, xxiiL 923. 
6. Furthest of all from inclusion or considera- 
tion; most improbable or unlikely. 
undue 
18. 
In his house I saw the last thing one would have ex- 
pected to find in the heart of Lapland a piano. 
B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 139. 
Last act, in peripatetic and scholastic metaphysics, posi- 
tive existence, which, after it is otherwise determined what 
a thing shall be, determines that it shall be. Also called 
second energy. Last day, yesterday. (Scotch. ] 
Last day I grat wi* spite and teen . . . 
That to a bard I should be seen 
WT half my channel dry. 
Buna, Humble Petition of Bruar Water. 
Last extreme of a syllogism, the minor term. Last 
heir, in Eny. law. he to whom lands come by escheat for 
want of lawful heirs. In some cases the last heir is the 
lord of whom the lands were held; but in others, the sover- 
eign. Last honor r honors. See honor. Last mul- 
tiplier, a certain quantity used in the integration of the 
equations of motion. On one's last legs, on the verge 
of failure or exhaustion ; almost ruined in health, ability, 
or resources: also said of things. 
The first lies like the fox's scent when on his last leys, 
increasing every moment ; the other is a back-scent, grow- 
ing colder the longer you follow It 
Scott, St Ronan's Well, xxr. 
The last cast. See casti. The last day, the day of 
judgment. The last days, the last times, in Serif.: 
the period when the end of the world draws near. The 
last gasp. Sec gasp. To breathe one's last, to die. 
To die In the last ditch. See dw'. To put the last 
hand to. See hand. 
II. n. The end; conclusion; termination: in 
phrases At last, or at the last, at the end ; in the 
conclusion ; finally. 
laster 
To the here he cleued fast. 
And to Pctlr he criede atte the but 
Kilty linn, ili. K. T. S.\ p. 8t 
And sif he fynde such defante that 30 with Fals holden. 
Hit schal bl-sltten our* soules sore attt late. 
Pien Ploumon (A\ il. 110. 
Gad, a troop shall overcome him : but he shall overcome 
at the toil, ii.n. xux.18. 
Virtue presenred from fell destruction's blast. 
Led on by heaven, and crowu'd with Joy at but 
Shak., Pericles, r. 8. 80. 
Atthelonglast See longi. -Booked at last See 600*. 
To the last, to the end; till the conclusion ; especially, 
till the near approach or the moment of death. 
She preserved her wit. Judgment, and vivacity to the 
latt, but often used to complain of her memory. 
A'tnrt, Death of Stella. 
last s (itgt), adv. [< las ft, a.] 1. At the end of 
the series ; after all others. 
God hath set forth us the apostles latt. 1 Cor. IT. 8. 
Lore thyself but: cherish those hearts that hate thee. 
Shalt., Hen. VIII., UL 2. 443. 
2. In conclusion ; finally ; lastly. 
First my fear ; then my courtesy ; latt my ri|linn|| 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., Epil. 
Pleased with his Idol, he commends, admires, 
Adores ; and lout, the thing adored desires. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Mi-tumorph., x. 
3. For the last time ; on the last occasion be- 
fore the present time. 
When saw you my father lattt Shak., Lear, I. 2. 167. 
Declare when latt Olivia came 
To sport beneath thy boughs. 
Tennyton, Talking Oak. 
4t. Lately. 
And yet I was latt chidden for being too slow. 
Shak., T. G. of V., U. 1. 12. 
First and last, first or last See ftrtti , adv. 
last 6 (last), n. In laic, same as last-court. 
last 7 (last), n. [Also list (see list?) ; var. of lask*, 
lisle, lesk.} A piece cut from a fish and used as 
bait. In pollack-fishing, for example, such a 
piece is cut from the under or bright part of 
the pollack. 
lastage (las'taj), . [= F. lestage; as lasts + 
-age.] 1. The lading of a ship. 
By charter of Queen Elisabeth in the 36th year of her 
reign, the lastage and ballastage and office of lattage and 
ballastage of all ships and other vessels betwixt the bridge 
of the City of London and the main sea, was granted to the 
Master \V ardens and Assistants of Trinity House. 
ttayhcw, London Labour and London Poor, III. 278. 
2f. Ballast. 
Ballesse or lastaye fur shipnes, saburra. 
,1562. 
She was the last person to be approached with und 
familiarity. Pretcott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 
(Ualliictll. ) 
3f. A duty formerly paid (a) in some markets 
for the right to carry things where one chooses ; 
(6) on wares sold by the last j (c) for freight or 
transportation ; (tl) for the right of taking bal- 
last from the sea-shore, between high- and low- 
water mark. 
They shall be free from all toll, and from all custome : 
that is to say, from all lastaye, tallage, passage, cariage, 
riuage, asponsage, and from all wrecke. 
Haktuyt's Voyaget, 1. 117. 
The citizens of Hereford fined, la the second year of 
Henry III., In a hundred marks and two palfreys, to have 
the king's charter . . . that they might be quit through- 
out England of toll and lastaffe, of passage, pontage and 
stallage, and of leve, and danegeld, and gaywlte, and all 
other customs and exactions. 
S. Doutll, Taxes In England, I. 20. 
4. Stowage-room for goods. 
last-court (last'kort), n. A court held by the 
twenty-four jurats in the marshes of Kent, 
England, and summoned by the bailiffs, where- 
in orders are made to lay and levy taxes, im- 
pose penalties, etc., for the 
preservation of the said 
marshes. Also l.--t. 
lastet. An obsolete preterit 
of lasft. 
laster (las'ter). n. [< lasft 
+ -er 1 .] In shoemaking : 
(a) One who fits the parts 
of shoes to lasts prepara- 
tory to the subsequent op- 
erations, especially in a 
shoe-factory. 
The sole ... Is now taken in 
hand by the latter, who secures It 
by a few Ucks to the upper. 
r,Dict,,IV.Ui. 
(Ii) A tool like a pair of 
pincers used in stretching 
the upper-leather of a boot 
or shoe on the last. The jaws 
are curved and serrated so as to 
grasp the leather firmly, and an 
angular IHMW is formed on one of 
the tongues of the pincers. The Lajttr. 
