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v. fin·ished, fin·ish·ing, fin·ish·es v.tr. 1. a. To stop (doing an activity or task) after reaching the point at which there is nothing left to do: finished cleaning the room. b. To bring to a required or desired state: finish an assignment; finish a painting. See Synonyms at complete. 2. a. To arrive at or attain the end of: finish a race. b. Sports To perform the last maneuver in (an offensive play), scoring a goal. 3. To consume all of; use up: finish a pie; finished off the pizza. 4. To give (wood, for example) a desired or particular surface texture. 5. To destroy; kill: finished the injured horse with a bullet. 6. To bring about the ruin of: The stock market crash finished many speculators. v.intr. 1. To come to an end; stop: a story that finishes with a twist. 2. To reach the end of a task, course, or relationship: The speaker finished with a rousing call to action. 3. Sports To score a goal as the last maneuver in a play: a good forward who just can't seem to finish. n. Phrasal Verb: 1. The final part; the conclusion: racers neck-and-neck at the finish. 2. The reason for one's ruin; downfall: Stealing the computer codes proved to be his finish. 3. Something that completes, concludes, or perfects, especially: a. The last treatment or coating of a surface: applied a shellac finish to the cabinet. b. The surface texture produced by such a treatment or coating. c. A material used in surfacing or finishing. 4. Completeness, refinement, or smoothness of execution; polish. 5. The flavor left in the mouth after wine has been swallowed. finish with (someone) To stop interacting with (someone), especially to stop subjecting (someone) to something. [Middle English finishen, from Old French finir, finiss-, to complete, from Latin fīnīre, from fīnis, end.] finish·er n. |
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