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bring up the rear. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
bring up the rear, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
bring up the rear in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Pronunciation
Verb
bring up the rear (third-person singular simple present brings up the rear, present participle bringing up the rear, simple past and past participle brought up the rear)
- (idiomatic) To be last in a moving line of people, to walk or go behind others in a line.
1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A Millar, , →OCLC: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.
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: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;
Antonyms
Translations
to be last in a moving line of people