Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

1. The newspaper article was due no later than 4 o’clock and the editor got it in at exactly 3:59. He went right down to the wire.
2. Some students write their best research papers if they wait until the night before they are due. They leave them until they are down to the wire.

Synonym: eleventh hour. Compare to: in the nick of time; under the wire. Whereas eleventh hour means late, down to the wire, under the wire and in the nick of time convey the sense of being just barely in time.