How to Use eleventh hour in a Sentence

eleventh hour

noun
  • And the work starts now, not at the eleventh hour.
    — Louis Mosca, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • Don’t expect a deal until the eleventh hour, but there must be a deal.
    — The Editors, National Review, 27 Apr. 2023
  • At the eleventh hour the seller refused to sign any warranties.
    — Lien De Pau, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
  • That said, a surprise seldom impacts the election in the eleventh hour.
    — Stephen Pastis, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
  • At the eleventh hour, the city's streetcar, The Hop, also made a cameo.
    — Vanessa Swales, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
  • 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
  • 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
  • The Golden Globes redeemed most of those titles in the eleventh hour.
    — Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 14 Jan. 2026
  • 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
  • Inventories will be slimmer in the eleventh hour, but hotels may still cut prices on unsold rooms.
    — Harriet Baskas, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2023
  • The Baltimore Ravens swooped in at the eleventh hour to get him, and the rest is history.
    — Ernesto Cova, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Mar. 2026
  • 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
  • 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
  • Of course, much of the magic came from the piano — which miraculously only came together in the eleventh hour.
    — Rachel Desantis, People.com, 12 Feb. 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
  • The bill was proposed last week at the eleventh hour of this year’s General Assembly session.
    — Hayes Gardner, Baltimore Sun, 19 Mar. 2024
  • 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
  • Mexico, which has funded the defense, has mounted an eleventh hour campaign to stay the execution.
    — Laignee Barron, Time, 27 Oct. 2017
  • So these situations could take a bit of time to unwind as the week unfolds, and could even wait until the eleventh hour to be consummated (or not).
    — Thomas Drance, The Athletic, 5 Mar. 2025
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Over the course of the war, ceasefire negotiations have faltered at the eleventh hour on several occasions.
    — Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 15 Jan. 2025
  • The brewing conflict came to a head during eleventh hour state budget negotiations in Albany.
    — New York Times, 5 May 2021
  • 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
  • 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
  • The Board also addressed an eleventh hour financial reprieve from a donor, which will be able to keep Roycemore open through the end of the academic year.
    — Claire Murphy, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2026
  • 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
  • At the eleventh hour, the expectant buyer sent over a 200-page security review questionnaire.
    — Alex Konrad, Forbes, 29 Jan. 2025

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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