Adjacent Words

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FIN'ISH, v.t. [L. finio, from finis, an end.]
1. To arrive at the end of, in performance; to complete; as, to finish a house; to finish a journey.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. Genesis 2.
2. To make perfect.
Episodes, taken separately, finish nothing.
3. To bring to an end; to end; to put an end to.
Seventy weeks are determined on thy people, and on thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and make an end of sins.
Daniel 9.
4. To perfect; to accomplish; to polish to the degree of excellence intended. In this sense it is frequently used in the participle of the perfect tense as an adjective. It is a finished performance. He is a finished scholar.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a decorative texture or appearance of a surface (or the substance that gives it that appearance); "the boat had a metallic finish"; "he applied a coat of a clear finish"; "when the finish is too thin it is difficult to apply evenly" [syn: coating, finish, finishing]
2: the temporal end; the concluding time; "the stopping point of each round was signaled by a bell"; "the market was up at the finish"; "they were playing better at the close of the season" [syn: stopping point, finale, finis, finish, last, conclusion, close]
3: a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality; "they performed with great polish"; "I admired the exquisite refinement of his prose"; "almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art"--Joseph Conrad [syn: polish, refinement, culture, cultivation, finish]
4: the place designated as the end (as of a race or journey); "a crowd assembled at the finish"; "he was nearly exhausted as their destination came into view" [syn: finish, destination, goal]
5: designated event that concludes a contest (especially a race); "excitement grew as the finish neared"; "my horse was several lengths behind at the finish"; "the winner is the team with the most points at the finish"
6: the downfall of someone (as of persons on one side of a conflict); "booze will be the finish of him"; "it was a fight to the finish"
7: event whose occurrence ends something; "his death marked the ending of an era"; "when these final episodes are broadcast it will be the finish of the show" [syn: ending, conclusion, finish] [ant: beginning]
8: (wine tasting) the taste of a wine on the back of the tongue (as it is swallowed); "the wine has a nutty flavor and a pleasant finish"
9: the act of finishing; "his best finish in a major tournament was third"; "the speaker's finishing was greeted with applause" [syn: finish, finishing] [ant: beginning, commencement, start] v
1: come or bring to a finish or an end; "He finished the dishes"; "She completed the requirements for her Master's Degree"; "The fastest runner finished the race in just over 2 hours; others finished in over 4 hours" [syn: complete, finish]
2: finally be or do something; "He ended up marrying his high school sweetheart"; "he wound up being unemployed and living at home again" [syn: finish up, land up, fetch up, end up, wind up, finish]
3: have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical; "the bronchioles terminate in a capillary bed"; "Your rights stop where you infringe upon the rights of other"; "My property ends by the bushes"; "The symphony ends in a pianissimo" [syn: end, stop, finish, terminate, cease] [ant: begin, start]
4: provide with a finish; "The carpenter finished the table beautifully"; "this shirt is not finished properly"
5: finish eating all the food on one's plate or on the table; "She polished off the remaining potatoes" [syn: eat up, finish, polish off]
6: cause to finish a relationship with somebody; "That finished me with Mary"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English finisshen, from Anglo-French finiss-, stem of finir, from Latin finire, from finis Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. a. to come to an end ; terminate b. end 1b 2. a. to come to the end of a course, task, or undertaking b. to end relations — used with with <decided to finish with him for good> 3. to end a competition in a specified manner or position <finished third in the race> transitive verb 1. a. to bring to an end ; terminate <finished the speech and sat down> b. to use or dispose of entirely <her sandwich finished the loaf> 2. a. to bring to completion or issue <hope to finish their new home before winter> b. to provide with a finish; especially to put a final coat or surface on <finish a table with varnish> 3. a. to defeat or ruin utterly and finally <the scandal finished his career> b. to bring about the death of Synonyms: see close • finisher noun II. noun Date: 1779 1. something that completes or perfects: as a. the fine or decorative work required for a building or one of its parts b. a finishing material used in painting c. the final treatment or coating of a surface d. the taste in the mouth after swallowing a beverage (as wine) 2. a. final stage ; end b. the cause of one's ruin 3. the result or product of a finishing process <a glossy finish> 4. the quality or state of being perfected

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 tr. a (often foll. by off) bring to an end; come to the end of; complete. b (usu. foll. by off) colloq. kill; overcome completely. c (often foll. by off, up) consume or get through the whole or the remainder of (food or drink) (finish up your dinner). 2 intr. a come to an end, cease. b reach the end, esp. of a race. c = finish up. 3 tr. a complete the manufacture of (cloth, woodwork, etc.) by surface treatment. b put the final touches to; make perfect or highly accomplished (finished manners). c prepare (a girl) for entry into fashionable society. --n. 1 a the end, the last stage. b the point at which a race etc. ends. c the death of a fox in a hunt (be in at the finish). 2 a method, material, or texture used for surface treatment of wood, cloth, etc. (mahogany finish). 3 what serves to give completeness. 4 an accomplished or completed state. Phrases and idioms: fight to a finish fight till one party is completely beaten. finishing-school a private college where girls are prepared for entry into fashionable society. finish off provide with an ending. finish up (often foll. by in, by) end in something, end by doing something (he finished up last in the race; the plan finished up in the waste-paper basket; finished up by apologizing). finish with have no more to do with, complete one's use of or association with. Etymology: ME f. OF fenir f. L finire f. finis end

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Finish Fin"ish, v. i. 1. To come to an end; to terminate. His days may finish ere that hapless time. --Shak. 2. To end; to die. [R.] --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Finish Fin"ish, n. 1. That which finishes, puts an end to? or perfects. 2. (Arch.) The joiner work and other finer work required for the completion of a building, especially of the interior. See Inside finish, and Outside finish. 3. (Fine Arts) (a) The labor required to give final completion to any work; hence, minute detail, careful elaboration, or the like. (b) See Finishing coat, under Finishing. 4. The result of completed labor, as on the surface of an object; manner or style of finishing; as, a rough, dead, or glossy finish given to cloth, stone, metal, etc. 5. Completion; -- opposed to start, or beginning.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Finish Fin"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Finished; p. pr. & vb. n. Finishing.] [F. finir (with a stem finiss- in several forms, whence E. -ish: see -ish.),fr. L. finire to limit, finish, end, fr. finis boundary, limit, end; perh. for fidnis, and akin findere to cleave, E. fissure.] 1. To arrive at the end of; to bring to an end; to put an end to; to make an end of; to terminate. And heroically hath finished A life heroic. --Milton. 2. To bestow the last required labor upon; to complete; to bestow the utmost possible labor upon; to perfect; to accomplish; to polish. Syn: To end; terminate; close; conclude; complete; accomplish; perfect.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(finishes, finishing, finished) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. When you finish doing or dealing with something, you do or deal with the last part of it, so that there is no more for you to do or deal with. As soon as he'd finished eating, he excused himself... Mr Gould was given a standing ovation and loud cheers when he finished his speech... VERB: V n/-ing, V n/-ing • Finish up means the same as finish. (AM) We waited a few minutes outside his office while he finished up his meeting. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron) 2. When you finish something that you are making or producing, you reach the end of making or producing it, so that it is complete. The consultants had been working to finish a report this week. = complete VERB: V n • Finish off and, in American English, finish up mean the same as finish. Now she is busy finishing off a biography of Queen Caroline. ...the amount of stuff required to finish up a movie. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V P n (not pron) 3. When something such as a course, film, or sale finishes, especially at a planned time, it ends. The teaching day finishes at around 4pm... When a play finishes its run, many of the costumes are hired out to amateur dramatics companies and schools. = end VERB: V at/on/by n, V n, also V 4. You say that someone or something finishes a period of time or an event in a particular way to indicate what the final situation was like. You can also say that a period of time or an event finishes in a particular way. The two of them finished by kissing each other goodbye... The evening finished with the welcoming of three new members... The American dollar finished the day up against foreign currencies... The last track finishes this compilation beautifully. VERB: V by -ing, V with n, V n adj/adv, V n adj/adv, also V n by -ing, V n prep, V prep 5. If someone finishes second, for example, in a race or competition, they are in second place at the end of the race or competition. He finished second in the championship four years in a row. VERB: V ord/prep 6. To finish means to reach the end of saying something. Her eyes flashed, but he held up a hand. 'Let me finish.' VERB: V 7. The finish of something is the end of it or the last part of it. I intend to continue it and see the job through to the finish... From start to finish he believed in me, often more than I did myself. = end N-SING: the N, with poss 8. The finish of a race is the end of it. Win a trip to see the finish of the Tour de France!... The replays of the close finish showed Ottey finished ahead of the Olympic champion. N-COUNT 9. If the surface of something that has been made has a particular kind of finish, it has the appearance or texture mentioned. The finish and workmanship of the woodwork was excellent. N-COUNT: usu with supp 10. see also finished 11. If you add the finishing touches to something, you add or do the last things that are necessary to complete it. Right up until the last minute, workers were still putting the finishing touches on the pavilions... PHRASE: N inflects

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fin'-ish (kalah; teleo, with other Hebrew and Greek words): The proper sense of "finish" is to end or complete; so for "finish," "finished," in the King James Version, there is sometimes met with in the Revised Version (British and American) the change to "complete" (Lu 14:28; 2Co 8:6), "accomplish" (Joh 4:34; 5:36; 17:4), "made an end of doing" (2Ch 4:11; compare 2Ch 24:14), etc. In Jas 1:15, for "sin, when it is finished," the Revised Version (British and American) reads "sin when it is full-grown," corresponding to "conceived" of the previous clause. On the other hand, the Revised Version (British and American) has frequently "finished" for other words, as "ended" (Ge 2:2; De 31:30), "accomplished" (Joh 19:28), "filled up," "fulfilled" (Re 15:1,8), etc. The grandest Scriptural example of the word is the cry upon the cross, "It is finished" (Tetelestai, Joh 19:30).

W. L. Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Accomplish, complete, execute, perform, achieve, do, get done. 2. Perfect, polish, elaborate, make perfect. 3. End, terminate, close, conclude, bring to an end, put an end to. II. n. 1. Polish, elaboration. 2. Polishing, last or final touch or touches. 3. End, close, termination, wind-up.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

The finish; a small coffee-house in Coven Garden, market, opposite Russel-street, open very early in the morning, and therefore resorted to by debauchees shut out of every other house: it is also called Carpenter's coffee- house.

Moby Thesaurus

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