[3-Minute Business English] What Does “The Eleventh Hour” Mean? It’s Not 11 Hours!

The Eleventh Hour

［The Last Moment, The Last Minute］

• the last moment or almost too late

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Prepositions — at/until

• at the eleventh hour (at the last moment)
• until the eleventh hour (until the last moment)

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Adjective — eleventh-hour

• an eleventh-hour decision (a decision made at the last moment)

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Meaning and Origin

“The eleventh hour” literally means “the eleventh hour.” In the Bible, there is a story about a vineyard owner who hired workers at different times throughout the day. The final group of workers only worked for one hour but received the same payment as the others. As a result, “the eleventh hour” came to refer to “the last moment” or “the last possible moment.”

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Business Examples

The company was able to reach an agreement with the client at the eleventh hour. (The company reached an agreement with the client at the last moment.)

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The project was completed at the eleventh hour, thanks to the hard work of the team. (Thanks to the team’s hard work, the project was completed at the last moment.)

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It will be too late for me to fix any mistakes if I get the report at the eleventh hour. (If I don’t receive the report until the last moment, I won’t have time to fix any mistakes.)

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We made an eleventh-hour decision right before the press conference. (We finally made a decision at the last moment, right before the press conference.) 

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Other Related Expressions

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Besides “the eleventh hour,” there are several other expressions that convey a similar meaning, such as:

• At the last minute: at the last moment
• Down to the wire: until the very last moment
• In the nick of time: just in time

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