die in the last ditch

verb

To fight till death; to die rather than surrender.

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Meanings

verbdie in the last ditch (third-person singular simple present dies in the last ditch, present participle dying in the last ditch, simple past and past participle died in the last ditch)

present singular third person dies in the last ditch · participle present dying in the last ditch · participle past died in the last ditch · past died in the last ditch

  1. To fight till death; to die rather than surrender.

Origin

Popularized from an 1847 translation by Agnes Strickland of a quote attributed to William of Orange during the French invasion of 1672 on his being advised to surrender Holland to Louis XIV: "No, I mean to die in the last ditch."

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

die in the last ditch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/die%20in%20the%20last%20ditch

MLA

“die in the last ditch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/die%20in%20the%20last%20ditch. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “die in the last ditch,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/die%20in%20the%20last%20ditch.

Source: die in the last ditch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.