/ · 1894 Brewer’s · P · Pis-aller (French)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
As a shift; for want of a better; a dernier ressort; better than nothing.
“She contented herself with a pis-aller, and gave her hand … in six months to the son of the baronet’s steward.”—Sir W. Scott: Waverley, chap. v.
· ·
Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
· 
· 
· ·