last mile

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌlɑːst ˈmaɪl/, /ˌlæst-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌlæst ˈmaɪl/
• Rhymes: -aɪl

last mile (plural last miles) (idiomatic, often attributively)

1. (logistics, transport) The final stage of delivery of goods, etc., from a distribution centre to the consumer, often involving greater effort or expense. [from mid 1970s]

   Synonym: last kilometre

2. (telecommunications) The portion of the infrastructure that carries communication signals from the main system to the end user's business or home, often involving greater expense to install and maintain, and lower transmission speeds.

   Synonym: last kilometre

   Coordinate term: middle mile

   The problem getting to all these remote customers is still the last mile, no matter how far they live from the switch.

• last mile on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• last mile (transportation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “last mile, n.” under “last, adv., adj., and n.⁴”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2021.
• “last mile, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

• Maillets, mistella