It will be a war of extermination when it comes, for neither side can tell when it is beaten, and the last man will bury the penultimate one, and then die himself.
"The Letters of William James, Vol. II"
William James
I had met them both at dinner: they were diners who had reached the penultimate stage-the stage which in theory is a rigid selection and in practice a wan submission.
"Embarrassments"
Henry James
penultimate molar, one-third of natural size.
"The Student's Elements of Geology"
Sir Charles Lyell