the devil catch the hindmost
Preserved but no longer current.
A phrase from late mediaeval magic; it was said that the devil had a school at Toledo, or at Salamanca, where the students, when they had made a certain progress in their studies, were obliged to run through a subterranean hall, and the last man was seized by the devil and became his imp.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the devil catch the hindmost” mean?
A phrase from late mediaeval magic; it was said that the devil had a school at Toledo, or at Salamanca, where the students, when they had made a certain progress in their studies, were obliged to run through a subterranean hall, and the last man was seized by the devil and became his imp.
Is “the devil catch the hindmost” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.