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stick to one's last

 - 4 dictionary results

last

3[last, lahst]
–noun
1. a wooden or metal form in the shape of the human foot on which boots or shoes are shaped or repaired.
2. the shape or form of a shoe.
–verb (used with object)
3. to shape on or fit to a last.
4. stick to one's last, to keep to that work, field, etc., in which one is competent or skilled.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME lest(e), last(e), OE lǣste; c. G Leisten; akin to OE lāst, Goth laists track


laster, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

last  (n.)
"shoemaker's block," from O.E. læste, from last "track, footprint, trace," from P.Gmc. *laistaz (cf. O.N. leistr "the foot," O.H.G. leist "track, footprint," Goth. laistjan "to follow," O.E. læran "to teach").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

last

See close 2.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Idioms & Phrases

stick to one's last

Keep to what you know and don't interfere out of your province, as in Let me handle the defense in this suit; you stick to your last and track down more eyewitnesses. This adage comes from an ancient story about a shoemaker criticizing a work by a Greek painter named Apelles, saying that the shoe in the picture was not correctly portrayed. After the painter corrected it, the shoemaker pointed out an error in the leg, whereupon the painter said, "Shoemaker, do not go above your last." Over the centuries the story was repeated, and the expression still is sometimes put as , even though cobblers are nearly obsolete.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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