Phrase guide

last mile

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌlɑːst ˈmaɪl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌlæst-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌlæst ˈmaɪl/
  • rhymes with -aɪl

1

noun

Meaning 1

The final stage of delivery of goods, etc., from a distribution centre to the consumer, often involving greater effort or expense.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, idiomatic, often

Qualifier: logistics

Topics: transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: last kilometre

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The portion of the infrastructure that carries communication signals from the main system to the end user's business or home, often involving greater expense to install and maintain, and lower transmission speeds.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, idiomatic, often

Topics: communications, electrical-engineering, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, telecommunications

Examples

  • The problem getting to all these remote customers is still the last mile, no matter how far they live from the switch.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: last kilometre

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the last walk of a condemned person to the execution place

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: walk

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: viimeinen kilometri — logistics: final stage of delivery
  • Indonesian: mil terakhir — logistics: final stage of delivery
  • Japanese: ラストワンマイル — logistics: final stage of delivery
  • Azerbaijani: son mil — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Belarusian: апошняя міля (apóšnjaja milja) — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Chinese Mandarin: 最後一公里 (zuìhòuyīgōnglǐ) — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Czech: poslední míle — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Finnish: tilaajapää — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • French: dernier kilomètre — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • German: letzte Meile — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Italian: ultimo miglio — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Japanese: ラストワンマイル — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Polish: łącze abonenckie — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Russian: последняя ми́ля (poslednjaja mílja) — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Spanish: último kilómetro — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system
  • Ukrainian: остання миля (ostannja mylja) — telecommunication: part of infrastructure that connects the end user to the main system