finish

American  

[fin-ish] / ˈfɪn ɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

• finishes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• finished,
  past participle,  past
• finishing
  present participle

1. to bring (something) to an end or to completion; complete.

   to finish a novel; to finish breakfast.

   Synonyms:

   close, conclude, terminate

2. to come to the end of (a course, period of time, etc.).

   to finish school.

3. to use completely (often followed by up oroff ).

   to finish up a can of paint; to finish off the rest of the milk.

4. to overcome completely; destroy or kill (often followed byoff ).

   This spray will finish off the cockroaches.

5. to complete and perfect in detail; put the final touches on (sometimes followed byup ).

   He decided to finish his plan more carefully.

   She finished up a painting.

6. to put a finish on (wood, metal, etc.).

   We finished the desk in antique red lacquer.

7. to perfect (a person) in education, accomplishments, social graces, etc.

8. to ready (livestock) for market by feeding a diet calculated to produce the desired weight.

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verb (used without object)

• finishes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• finished,
  past participle,  past
• finishing
  present participle

1. to come to an end.

   The course finishes in January.

2. to complete a course, project, etc. (sometimes followed byup ).

   I finished before he did. It was nine o'clock when we finished up.

3. (of livestock) to become fattened for market.

noun

• finishes
  plural

1. the end or conclusion; the final part or last stage.

2. the end of a hunt, race, etc..

   a close finish.

3. a decisive ending.

   a fight to the finish.

4. the quality of being finished or completed with smoothness, elegance, etc..

   to admire the finish of one's writing.

5. educational or social polish.

6. the manner in which an object is perfected or finished in its preparation, or an effect imparted in finishing.

7. the surface coating or texture of wood, metal, etc.

8. something used or serving to finish, complete, or perfect a thing.

9. woodwork or the like, especially in the interior of a building, not essential to the structure but used for purposes of ornament, neatness, etc..

   a finish of black walnut.

10. Also called finishing coat, finish coat. a final coat of plaster or paint.

11. a material for application in finishing.

12. Animal Husbandry. the fat tissue of livestock.

13. the flavor remaining in the mouth after a wine has been swallowed.

verb phrase

1. finish with

   1. to bring to completion.

      She's finished with her latest novel.

   2. to put aside, break all relations with, or reject finally.

      He's finished with football and will play only baseball now.

      After the way they treated us, we're finished with them.

finish British  

/ ˈfɪnɪʃ /

verb

1. to bring to an end; complete, conclude, or stop

2. to be at or come to the end; use up

3. to bring to a desired or complete condition

4. to put a particular surface texture on (wood, cloth, etc)

5. (often foll by off) to destroy or defeat completely

6. to train (a person) in social graces and talents

7. 1. to end a relationship or association

   2. to stop punishing a person

      I haven't finished with you yet!

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noun

1. the final or last stage or part; end

2. 1. the death, destruction, or absolute defeat of a person or one side in a conflict

      a fight to the finish

   2. the person, event, or thing that brings this about

3. 1. the surface texture or appearance of wood, cloth, etc

      a rough finish

   2. a preparation, such as varnish, used to produce such a texture

4. a thing, event, etc, that completes

5. completeness and high quality of workmanship

6. refinement in social graces

7. sport ability to sprint at the end of a race

   he has a good finish

finish Idioms  

1. see from soup to nuts (start to finish); in at the death (finish).

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Synonym Usage

See end ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• finisher
  noun
• prefinish
  verb (used with object)
• nonfinishing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• finishes
  plural

Participles

• finishing
  present
• finished
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• finish
  simple
• finishes
  simple
• have finished
  perfect
• has finished
  perfect
• am finishing
  progressive
• are finishing
  progressive
• is finishing
  progressive
• have been finishing
  perfect progressive
• has been finishing
  perfect progressive

Past

• finished
  simple
• had finished
  perfect
• was finishing
  progressive
• were finishing
  progressive
• had been finishing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will finish
  simple
• will have finished
  perfect
• will be finishing
  progressive
• will have been finishing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of finish

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English finisshen, from Anglo-French, Middle French finiss-, long stem of finir, from Latin fīnīre “to end”; see fine ¹

Explanation

To finish something is to complete it or bring it to a conclusion. If you finished a race, you completed it — even if you didn’t come in first. Finishing is about concluding. If you finished a novel, you read the whole thing. Finishing a job means the job is done. This word can also refer to a coating or polish used to make furniture look nicer or fancier. If you say someone has a finished look about them, they don’t actually have a coating or polish, of course — but the effect is the same. They have a clean, cultured, polished appearance.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

finish finishes finished finishing

At the start of the year it seemed unthinkable that anybody other than Sinner or Alcaraz would finish it as world number one.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

The next few weeks will likely determine how they finish the year.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

The Dodgers need to finish the job, need to bring home some baserunners — or they won’t be bringing home a third consecutive World Series championship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

He shocked the running world when he won Toledo’s Glass City Marathon in April, shattering the course record with a finish of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 54 seconds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

“And the best part is that it’ll allow me to earn a credit or two toward my BA before I even finish high school.”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

I first really understood this while making Alison Roman’s dill-packed potato-leek soup, published originally a little over five years ago, which finishes with white wine vinegar.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

Noth’s bedroom offers a more pared-back aesthetic, with enough space to accommodate a king-sized bed, while the adjoining full bathroom features marble finishes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

In 2022, he won the Vuelta a Espana and has since added two podium finishes at the Tour de France.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

The Mercedes driver's victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, holding off Red Bull's Max Verstappen in one of the closest finishes in history, was his first since the end of June - seven races ago.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

He finishes preparing the engine and walks to the driver’s seat of the car, repositions his toolbox, and climbs in.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

England's lack of ruthlessness in front of goal has been an occurring theme since 2023 when they finished runners-up to Spain in the World Cup.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

They can change how reactive oxygen species are produced, alter the behavior of the starting molecules, and even affect whether the finished products remain stable or begin to break down.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

This is Dodger baseball: The Dodgers hit 50 more home runs this season than the Brewers, who finished last in the NL in homers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

But in a stunning collapse against Oklahoma on Saturday, Manning showed that years after being anointed as football’s next star he remains far from the finished product.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

After Patch finished the milk we ran our fingers around the inside of the pail, licking each finger until there was nothing left.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

More poor finishing came in the rain in New York as the Cleveland Browns missed an extra point and then Corey Bojorquez fumbled a late punt which the Jets turned into the winning touchdown.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

A 6ft 2in English striker with a deadly finishing touch, who came through at Spurs before learning his trade in the Football League.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

He prepared the couple’s morning coffee while Ortiz coaxed him into finishing a smoothie she’d made for him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

“We all have the experience of finishing the day, relaxing on the sofa, watching videos and clicking ‘buy’ without thinking too much about it,” said Vivien Huang, Reckitt’s director of marketing in China.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

We kept working on our project, finishing up our paper prototypes and playing around with some app-building software.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Related Words

• accomplish
• achieve
• clinch
• close
• complete
• conclude
• do
• end
• make
• play out
• settle
• stop
• wind up
• wrap up