11th-hour/ the eleventh hour.

11th-hour/ the eleventh hour.
n.
The latest possible time: turned in the report at the eleventh hour.
(i-LEV-uhnth our)

noun
The last moment.

Etymology
From the parable in the Bible where laborers hired at the eleventh hour of the twelve-hour workday were paid the same as those hired earlier

Matthew 20:6-8 King James Version (KJV)

6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

6約在十一時辰，他又出去，看見還有些人站在那裡，就對他們說：為什麼你們站在這裡整天閒著？

7他們對他說：因為沒有人僱我們。他給他們說：你們也到我的葡萄園裡去罷！

8到了晚上，葡萄園的主人對他的管事人說：你叫工人來，分給他們工資，由最後的開始，直到最先的

(思高版)

World War I ended in 1918 when the armistice was declared on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Usage
"It is understood the women's premier side pulled out at the eleventh hour alongside Nadi's Votualevu women's team." — Lautoka Women Miss Challenge; Fiji Times; Feb 24, 2005.

"Agriculture Minister Kipruto arap Kirwa, who was invited, failed to show up and is suspected to have developed cold feet at the eleventh hour." — Andrew Teyie and Martin Mutuak; Secret Plot to Purge Cabinet Graft Barons; East African Standard (Nairobi, Kenya); Feb 10, 2005.

11th hour |投機取巧者的最後時刻

因與政府關係密切，中國電信巨頭華為被一些西方國家詬病存在“重大國家安全隱患”。但巴布亞新幾內亞不這樣認為。該國堅持與華為達成一項建設國內互聯網電纜的協議，並拒絕了澳大利亞、美國和日本提出的聯合反要約。

該國投資部長說，華為已經完成了上述項目的60%，“這讓西方國家在最後一刻做出的努力顯得' 有些居高臨下 '”。 (that made the 11th-hour effort from the Western powers "a bit patronizing".）

11th hour並非指字面上看起來的11點，而是“最後一刻”的意思。一般認為，這個用法出自《聖經》裡的典故：投機取巧的工人在工作快結束前才開始工作。

在爭奪巴布亞新幾內亞這個太平洋島國的影響力交鋒中，中國搶占了先機，並成功使西方國家最後一刻的合作邀約淪為the 11th-hour effort。