down to the wire

To the last minute; to the very end. For example, We're just about down to the wire with this project. This term comes from horseracing, where it was long the practice to stretch a wire across and above the track at the finish line. It was extended to figurative use about 1900.

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Example Sentences

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Chelsea were odds-on title favourites in 2024-25 from an early stage - after it went down to the wire in 2023-24 - which might have affected the appetite of fans from other top-four clubs, who all faced their own struggles during the campaign.

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"There are a lot of teams that are pushing for Champions League spots and it is going down to the wire."

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But with just five points separating Newcastle and Chelsea in seventh - a gap that could be cut to two if the Blues win at Fulham on Sunday - the top-five race looks set to go down to the wire.

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For the Clippers to become the fifth seed in the competitive Western Conference and avoid the NBA’s play-in tournament, they had to win their last two games of the regular-season, at Sacramento and Golden State, respectively, and both games came down to the wire.

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Aliya told the BBC it was something she first did for herself: "After I was finished with my costume I would rip it apart, literally down to the wire, and figure out how to make this into something else to wear outside of carnival."

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down to the ground downtown

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