last full measure

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

last full measure (plural last full measures)

  1. (idiomatic) A person's life, when lost through death in service to a nation or cause, particularly as a member of a military force in war or a semi-militarized organization such as a police force or civil defense corps, e.g. fire departments. May also be applied to some dangerous government and civil occupations such as espionage.

Usage notes

[edit]
  • Not normally applied to death in service to a nation or cause outside of a military or semi-military context; for example the deaths by starvation of scientists defending the Pavlovsk Experimental Station gene bank in Leningrad during World War II, refusing to consume irreplaceable scientific samples even to save themselves, are not usually characterized this way, despite those deaths being regarded sentimentally and as noble acts.

See also

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]