last-ditch

• last ditch

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Possibly from a military sense.

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last-ditch

1. (idiomatic) Final, as a last resort; done in desperation.

   a last-ditch attack

   He sent flowers in a last-ditch effort to keep her from leaving.

   • 2011 January 15, Sam Sheringham, “Chelsea 4 - 3 Blackburn Rovers”, in BBC‎:

     Only a last-ditch tackle from Michel Salgado denied Didier Drogba after a clever through-ball from Anelka and, from the resulting corner, Ivanovic flicked the ball on for Ramires, who lashed a half-volley against the bar.

   • 2022 June 29, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Strikes set to escalate as RMT issues rallying call”, in RAIL, number 960, page 6:

     That's the warning from RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch, who has predicted that industrial action could soon spill over into other sectors of the economy, following the failure of last-ditch talks to avert the largest rail strike since 1989.

Often in the phrase last-ditch attempt or last-ditch effort.

• die in the last ditch

• Hail Mary pass

• “last-ditch”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.