An expedient adopted only in desperation.

synonym: pis aller.

Roget 666: refuge, sanctuary, retreat, fastness; acropolis; keep, last resort; ward; prison etc. 752; asylum, ark, home, refuge for the destitute; almshouse^†; hiding place etc. (ambush) 530; sanctum sanctorum [Lat.] etc. (privacy) 893.    roadstead, anchorage; breakwater, mole, port, haven; harbor, harbor of refuge; seaport; pier, jetty, embankment, quay.    covert, cover, shelter, screen, lee wall, wing, shield, umbrella; barrier; dashboard, dasher [U.S.].    wall etc. (inclosure) 232; fort etc. (defense) 717.    anchor, kedge; grapnel, grappling iron; sheet anchor, killick^†; mainstay; support etc. 215; cheek etc. 706; ballast.    jury mast; vent-peg; safety valve, blow-off valve; safety lamp; lightning rod, lightning conductor; safety belt, airbag, seat belt; antilock brakes, antiskid tires, snow tires.    means of escape etc. (escape) 671; lifeboat, lifejacket, life buoy, swimming belt, cork jacket; parachute, plank, steppingstone; emergency landing.    safeguard etc. (protection) 664.    ... show more

Roget 601: involuntariness; instinct, blind impulse; inborn proclivity, innate proclivity; native tendency, natural tendency; natural impulse, predetermination.    necessity, necessitation; obligation; compulsion etc. 744; subjection etc. 749; stern necessity, hard necessity, dire necessity, imperious necessity, inexorable necessity, iron necessity, adverse necessity; fate; what must be.    destiny, destination; fatality, fate, kismet, doom, foredoom, election, predestination; preordination, foreordination; lot fortune; fatalism; inevitableness etc. adj.; spell etc. 993.    star, stars; planet, planets; astral influence; sky, Fates, Parcae, Sisters three, book of fate; God's will, will of Heaven; wheel of Fortune, Ides of March, Hobson's choice.    last shift, last resort; dernier ressort [Fr.]; pis aller etc. (substitute) 147 [Fr.]; necessaries etc. (requirement) 630.    necessarian^†, necessitarian^†; fatalist; automaton.    ... show more