How to Use eleventh hour in a Sentence

eleventh hour

noun
  • There have been a lot of eleventh hour telephone talks.
    — Katie Nicholl, Vanities, 15 May 2018
  • Don’t expect a deal until the eleventh hour, but there must be a deal.
    — The Editors, National Review, 27 Apr. 2023
  • But Mayor Adams at the eleventh hour put the kibosh on those plans for this school year.
    — Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 13 Jan. 2025
  • That said, a surprise seldom impacts the election in the eleventh hour.
    — Stephen Pastis, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Unless something changes at the eleventh hour, the ban appears set to take effect on Jan. 19.
    — Alix Martichoux, The Hill, 18 Jan. 2025
  • When word of the funding threats came down, some grant-giving meetings were cancelled at the eleventh hour.
    — Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Meanwhile, set designer Mary Howard also came by and lent a hand at the eleventh hour to help prop out all of the spaces.
    — Alexandra MacOn, Vogue, 13 Sep. 2024
  • Waiting for the eleventh hour to consider a must-pass funding bill is no way to run the government.
    — Steven Lemongello, OrlandoSentinel.com, 22 Mar. 2018
  • That ending in the kitchen, when Cooper and Rachel lay all their cards on the table, reveals new layers of intrigue at the eleventh hour.
    — A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2024
  • Rooney has no memory of the eleventh hour photo reveal.
    — Joseph Bien-Kahn, Rolling Stone, 11 June 2023
  • Everything from the late confirmation of the schedule to the eleventh hour deal for broadcasting rights is par for the course.
    — Tim Ellis, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
  • The bill was proposed last week at the eleventh hour of this year’s General Assembly session.
    — Hayes Gardner, Baltimore Sun, 19 Mar. 2024
  • The show continues to take risks through the eleventh hour, shifting gears halfway through the season in an audacious twist.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 13 Apr. 2023
  • At the eleventh hour, President-elect Donald Trump condemned ...
    — Nr Editors, National Review, 20 Dec. 2024
  • Inventories will be slimmer in the eleventh hour, but hotels may still cut prices on unsold rooms.
    — Harriet Baskas, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2023
  • Period dramas were out of fashion among film buyers at the time, apparently, and a key financier pulled out of the project at the eleventh hour.
    — Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Sep. 2023
  • The resolution came in the eleventh hour, after the jury was in place and reporters and lawyers had waited for hours for opening statements to begin.
    — Jane C. Timm, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2023
  • President-elect Trump previously advocated for a ban but has since flip-flopped, urging the court last month to pause the law at the eleventh hour.
    — Alayna Alvarez, Axios, 10 Jan. 2025
  • One of those plans was rewritten at the eleventh hour in an attempt to protect downtown garment businesses from being pushed out.
    — Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2023
  • Tennessee was the first state to pass a law banning drag performances in public, although the measure was blocked by a federal judge at the eleventh hour.
    — Tori Otten, The New Republic, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Lazio submitted a formal offer, having come close to signing the 22-year-old on loan at the eleventh hour during the previous summer.
    — Mark Critchley, The Athletic, 23 July 2024
  • Two decades ago, Chu’s ambitious remake of Bye Bye Birdie was budgeted, cast and slotted for production, only to be flushed at the eleventh hour.
    — Peter Bart, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The industry is currently on watch, wondering if that drastic move will actually come to fruition, or if the two sides will come to an armistice at the eleventh hour to avoid an all-out war.
    — Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Even the Pakistan cricket team were only able to obtain visas at the eleventh hour, after complaints of a delay in the process which the Pakistan Cricket Board said disrupted the team’s preparation for the event.
    — Rhea Mogul, CNN, 12 Oct. 2023
  • The sides have negotiated for years and as the eleventh hour approaches, Angelos and Moore have assured fans that a long-term lease will soon be finalized.
    — Hayes Gardner, Baltimore Sun, 5 Apr. 2023
  • At the eleventh hour, regional leaders yanked the measure from the ballot, citing dwindling voter appetite for new taxes.
    — Kate Talerico, The Mercury News, 20 Feb. 2025
  • Mexico, which has funded the defense, has mounted an eleventh hour campaign to stay the execution.
    — Laignee Barron, Time, 27 Oct. 2017
  • The newly mature Leon is thoughtful and expansive, yet there is something garish about his transformation at the eleventh hour.
    — Jasmine Liu, The New Republic, 4 Aug. 2023
  • Then, in late September, the U.S. seemed to be barreling toward what would have been one of the largest government shutdowns in history but again struck an eleventh hour agreement to keep the government open.
    — Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 28 Dec. 2023
  • Despite his eleventh hour volte-face, Meadows might well have already delivered the probe new information of interest in the form of 6,000 pages of documents.
    — Gregory Krieg, CNN, 8 Dec. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'eleventh hour.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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