to come/go (right) down to the wire
idiom

- to only be decided or become clear at the last possible moment

Macmillan Dictionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The phrase "down to the wire" comes from horse racing in the United States during the late 19th century.

In horse races, a literal wire was strung across the track at the finish line to help judges determine which horse crossed first in close races. When a race was particularly tight and the outcome remained uncertain until the very last moment, it was said to go "down to the wire."

The earliest known printed usage of the phrase appeared in 1889 in the Louisville Courier-Journal about a Kentucky Derby race. Over time, the expression expanded beyond horse racing to become a common idiom meaning a situation that remains undecided until the very last possible moment or deadline.

Today, we use "down to the wire" to describe any tense situation where the outcome is decided at the final moment - whether it's meeting a project deadline, a close election, or any other scenario where the result isn't clear until the very end.

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RACING VOCABULARY
Horseracing has given the English language a number of common expressions:


- By a nose = to succeed by a very narrow margin. This stems from one horse beating another to the finish line by just the length of its nose. (We won the contract by a nose).

- Hands down = with great ease; unconditionally. Originally found in the phrase "win hands down," in which a jockey, certain of victory, drops his hands and relaxes his hold on the reins. (We won the contract hands down).

- Homestretch = the final phase of an endeavour or project. On a racecourse the final part of the track that leads to the finish line is called the homestretch. (After nearly a year working on the house, we're in the homestretch).

- One-horse race = a competition which one particular person or team is very likely to win because they seem much better than the other people competing (The election for mayor was a one-horse race).

- The inside track = to have information or a position that makes it easier to win. This derives from the idea that a horse that starts on the inside position of the track has the advantage. (She’s on the inside track for the new sales manager job).

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SYNONYMS

a blink before midnight, a hair's breadth from time running out, a split second before the bell, almost too late, at crunch time, at the 11th hour (the brink, the buzzer, the deadline, the final bell, the finish line), the last bell (call, gasp, moment, second), at the zero hour, by a whisker (the skin of one's teeth, the slimmest margin), DOWN TO THE WIRE, in the dying moments (the final countdown, the home stretch, the last breath/innings/last minute, the nick of time), just before the bell (the buzzer), not a moment too soon, on the bell (the buzzer, the edge, the last lap, the razor's edge), racing against time, right before the deadline (down to the wire), seconds from disaster, skidding into the finish, squeaked in (under the wire), with little time/moments to spare, with no time left, with seconds left (the clock/time running out)

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Waiting to book the hotel until tomorrow will be DOWN TO THE WIRE,... and risks being too late!”

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