2.253 as pronouns

You can use an ordinal to refer to a member of a group that you have already mentioned or to something of the kind already mentioned, and you can omit the noun which identifies the thing.

• In August 1932 two of the group's members were expelled from the party and a third was suspended.
• There is a third factor besides farming and herding in the spread of man-made desert: deforestation.
• The third child tries to outdo the first and second.
• A second pheasant flew up. Then a third and a fourth.

2.254

The adjectives 'next' and 'last' can be used, like ordinals, by themselves when the context makes the meaning clear.

• You missed one meal. The next is on the table in half an hour.
• Smithy removed the last of the screws.