the devil take the hindmost

See also: the Devil take the hindmost

English

Phrase

the devil take the hindmost

1. Alternative form of devil take the hindmost.
   • 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter CVIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 572:

     "Oh, don't talk to me about your socialists, I've got no patience with them," she cried. "It only means that another lot of lazy loafers will make a good thing out of the working classes. My motto is, leave me alone; I don't want anyone interfering with me; I'll make the best of a bad job, and the devil take the hindmost."

   • 2016, Sally Malcolm, The Legend of the Gypsy Hawk, Camberley, Surrey: Choc Lit Limited, →ISBN, page 45:

     ‘Abandon them to their fate, you say?’ He looked over at his first mate, at the lines of experience etched into his face, and knew that he was right. ‘Run before the storm and the devil take the hindmost.’ He’d lived by that rule since he’d sailed from the Port of London on that bitter winter night long ago. It had saved his life many a time since, and yet …

   • 2020, Ted Bell, Dragonfire, New York, N.Y.: Berkley, published 2021, →ISBN, page 536:

     And if fate should turn her back on them, or turn away from them, leaving them to their own devices, and should they find themselves be sore afraid, then they would simply sail away to the other side of the world. They would ride like the wind. They would sail once more into the breach and damn the torpedos! God save the Queen! And the devil take the hindmost!