swan song

noun

: a song of great sweetness said to be sung by a dying swan

: a farewell appearance or final act or pronouncement

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Swans don't sing. They whistle or trumpet, or in the case of the swan most common in ponds, the mute swan, they only hiss and snort. But according to ancient legend, the swan does sing one beautiful song in its life-just before it dies. References in English to the dying swan's lovely singing go back as far as Chaucer, but the term swan song itself didn't appear in the language until the 1830s, when Thomas Carlyle used it in Sartor Resartus. Carlyle probably based his "swan song" on the German version of the term, which is Schwanengesang or Schwanenlied.

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Also keep in mind that the season premiere dates for The Conners‘ fun-sized swan song and The Cleaning Lady Season 4 are still TBD. —

Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 29 Nov. 2024 Lewis worked under Lynn in Cleveland, the swan song of his career after seven illustrious years in Baltimore. —

Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 27 Nov. 2024 Boman’s swan song has come with the Gophers on the upswing. —

Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 30 Oct. 2024 And in what many expected to be a swan song for Taurasi, a six-time Olympian, the game was never assured enough to bring her off the bench. —

Chantel Jennings, The Athletic, 11 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for swan song