bring up the rear en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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(idiomatic) To be last in a moving line of people, to walk or go behind others in a line.
As for the guides, they were debarred from the pleasure of discourse, the one being placed in the van, and the other obliged to bring up the rear.
1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet;
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 1:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| brings up the rear | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| bringing up the rear | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| brought up the rear | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| brought up the rear | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Coordinates
Translations (7)
fi olla hännillä (to be last in a moving line of people) · de das Schlusslicht sein (to be last in a moving line of people) · pl być na końcu (to be last in a moving line of people) · de das Schlusslicht bilden (to be last in a moving line of people) · es cerrar la marcha (to be last in a moving line of people) · fr fermer la marche (to be last in a moving line of people) · cmn 墊後 /垫后 (to be last in a moving line of people)