next-to-last adj 1: next to the last; "the author inadvertently reveals the murderer in the penultimate chapter"; "the figures in the next-to-last column" [syn: {penultimate}] 2: used of the third or next to final year in United States high school or college; "the junior class"; "a third-year student" [syn: {junior(a)}, {third-year}]