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.  Also called 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

The Welsh Rugby Union, which owns and operates the Principality Stadium, previously indicated it would be delighted to host the fight and confirmed a late-night finish would not be a dealbreaker.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Shares have since pulled back to $609.32 and need to close above $612.56 to finish in trillion-dollar territory, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

With back-to-back losses against teams expected to finish the year near the bottom of the standings, Harbaugh’s squad is on the brink after only two weeks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

As the fuel tank is within the chassis and therefore its size could not be changed, this meant those teams might not have been able to finish grands prix with their existing fuel tanks.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Whether they sprinted to the end or dragged themselves across the finish line, they were all so proud.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

I’m sorry, but a college-football game that finishes 84-0 makes me a little embarrassed—for the winner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

After Dragonflies’ Hollywood Forever shows, Godrich and Harrison have dates scheduled in Europe for November and hope to play more in the future, depending on when Godrich finishes a couple of records he’s producing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

The new Pokémon card set features new illustrated rare cards, as well as some with foil finishes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

Their underwhelming start comes despite the club spending more than £300m in the summer to strengthen De Zerbi's squad after back-to-back 17th-placed finishes.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

He finishes his tea, tells me to be firm with Helena, and leaves me to my thoughts.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Shopify shares popped after the announcement and finished Monday up more than 7%.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

On Monday, the six other Magnificent Seven names also finished in the green.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

The finished fiber measures less than half a millimeter across.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

Elsewhere, reigning European road race champion Demi Vollering was eighth, while Backstedt's British team-mate Anna Morris finished 16th.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 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

After finishing, he cracked a joke: “I hope you enjoyed my support acts this evening, I heard they were great.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

Her elder daughter, Pooja, also won a prize after finishing second in her age group.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Chicago White Sox: The most improved team in baseball is desperately trying to hold off the Guardians and win a division title after finishing last two years in a row.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Among the Lahore petitioners is a 23-year-old who was just days away from finishing her second-year studies when she was told she must "go back and leave everything".

From Barron's

Max flipped it back out to me as Sadie was finishing with the last of her customers and the people coming in for the midnight movies began to snag their seats.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

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