last refuge

plural last refuges

1. idiomaticSynonym of last resort.

   In societies without national insurance of any kind, almshouses are the last refuge of penniless people.

   3 more examples

   Though we don’t all reach nirvana when we swim, swimming may well be that last refuge from connectivity — and, for some, the only way to find the solitary self.

   2014 February 14, Bonnie Tsui, “The Self-Reflecting Pool”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2021

   The coach is the last refuge of aerophobic bargain-hunters. The journey time from London to Florence is around 30hrs; the return full fare is around £115.

   2007, Dana Facaros, Michael Pauls, Tuscany, Umbria and the Marches, page 64

   Crawford’s replacement in Sweet Charlotte was 48-year-old Olivia de Havilland, who had already been terrorised by home invaders in the surprisingly vicious Lady in a Cage (1964), though her career low point was probably being stung to death by killer bees in The Swarm (1978) as disaster movies replaced hagsploitation as the last refuge of the fading Hollywood star.

   2018 January 18, Anne Billson, “'Hagsploitation': horror's obsession with older women returns”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2021

   Synonyms: last resort