fall at the last hurdle
/ˈfɔːl æt ðə ˌlɑːst ˈhɜːdl̩/
"fall-at-the-last-hurdle" is a 19-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fall at the last hurdle” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 23
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To fail near the end of an activity, a project, etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fall-at-the-last-hurdle · fall at the last hurdle · English
fall at the last hurdle · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 23 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fall at the last hurdle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈfɔːl æt ðə ˌlɑːst ˈhɜːdl̩/ |
| Letters | 23 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “fall at the last hurdle” in English
Rare enough to double-check
fall at the last hurdle is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈfɔːl æt ðə ˌlɑːst ˈhɜːdl̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To fail near the end of an activity, a project, etc.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for fall at the last hurdle, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably from hurdling, a type of horse racing where horses jump over obstacles called hurdles. The term refers to a horse successfully clearing all but the last hurdle. The correct English form is fall at the last hurdle, spelled F-A-L-L- -A-T- -T-H-E- -L-A-S-T- -H-U-R-D-L-E.
Definition
- 1To fail near the end of an activity, a project, etc.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fall at the last hurdle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[W]hen she [Psyche] falls at her last hurdle, it is through her own act, motivated by the identical combination of curiositas and simplicitas that has been her undoing from the start.
Now, at the point of action, it's easy to appear to fall at the last hurdle. In fact, you are unlikely to fail here. If it goes wrong now, it will [be] because you slipped at a previous waterjump and didn't notice the splash you made.
Etymology
Probably from hurdling, a type of horse racing where horses jump over obstacles called hurdles. The term refers to a horse successfully clearing all but the last hurdle.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.