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Meanings of pis aller in English

An expedient adopted only in desperation.

Synonyms
Examples for "last resort"
Examples for "last resort"
1
Here, in the dread tribunal of last resort, valor contended against valor.
Something of Men I Have Known / With Some Papers of a General Na...
2
However, this will only be done as a last resort, said Oberholzer.
The South African
3
This is the last resort, in order to protect the national grid.
The South African
4
However, he retained the option to do so as a last resort.
The Irish Times
5
A title of last resort, one that means nothing in specified situations.
The Complete Alien Omnibus
Usage of pis aller in English
1
Yet it is characteristic of him that he always tended to regard the writing of verse as a ' pis aller'.
Shelley
2
The purpose of this chapter is sufficiently served in indicating that this proposal also is a pis aller, a desperate second best-liketeetotalism.
What's Wrong with the World
3
But don't you see, if it is said that she was obliged to leave Milan, it puts us in the position of a pis aller!
A Siren
4
'In a bad school: as a pis aller one might put up with him.
Tancred; Or, The New Crusade
5
"Ce serait toujours un pis aller," said Jacobi, seating himself with calmness in Ratcliffe's favourite chair by Mrs. Lee's side.
Democracy, an American novel