She clung to the edge in a desperate attempt to save herself.

为了活命，她拼命抓住边缘。

《牛津词典》

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"This is an opportunity to help a neighbor in need, in desperate need, and to do it with swiftness, expertise,generosity and love."

VOA: special.2010.02.01

A desperate honesty that throbs through his confession does not absolve him from sins of diabolical cunning. He is abnormal.

他的忏悔被绝望的虔诚悸动着,但这也不能为他那恶魔的狡诈赎罪，他是变态。

耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选

But if I'm poor and I'm desperate, like I might commit a crime to feed my family and that can affect others.

但如果我又穷又绝望，我就可能会为了养家糊口而犯罪,那就影响到别人了。

耶鲁公开课 - 公正课程节选

But there's one thing that the Times, my former employer, probably isn't: a practical model to be emulated by a newspaper industry desperate for a new game plan.

FORBES: Magazine Article

He told me about a desperate message that a farmer left him the other day.

NEWYORKER: Testing, Testing

So is this merely a desperate act by a financial giant after having missed the ETF boat?

FORBES: Fidelity And BlackRock Fire A Broadside At Vanguard and Schwab