▪ I. finish, n.
(ˈfɪnɪʃ)
[f. next vb.]
1. a. The conclusion, last stage, termination; also (colloq. or vulgar) the ‘end’ of a man.
| 1790 A. M. Johnson Monmouth III. 140 To look upon death..as the finish of your sorrows! 1806 Southey Lett. (1856) I. 361 The fit and worthy finish of such a life. 1814 F. Burney Wanderer V. 318 And here..is the finish of all I have to recount. 1826 Sporting Mag. XVII. 321 You would like to hear what was the finish of the noted Will Barrow. 1827 Ibid. XXI. 78 The finish of the hunting season I unfortunately lost. |
b. elliptically in Sporting: The end of a hunt, race, etc.; the death of a fox; also in phrase, to be in at the finish. Also fig.
| 1875 W. S. Hayward Love agst. World 13 The old squire was determined to be in at the finish. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S.C. 133 Think for a moment of a finish as it is in reality. 1891 H. Le Caron 25 Years in Secret Serv. (1893) 188 It was..in the speeches from start to finish. |
2. a. That which finishes, or serves to give completeness or perfection to anything.
| 1779 J. Wedgwood Let. 23 Nov. (1965) 245 We have formed a..school, which I have..some notion of..continuing instead of sending them [sc. children] from home again, unless by way of finish. 1793 Copper-Plate Mag. No. 13, The choir received it's embellishments and finish from Henry the Eighth. 1823 G. Kennedy Father Clem. i. 20 To obtain that finish to his education which it was..thought could only be acquired by travelling [etc.]. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. x. 515 Two smaller towers were designed as the finish of the building. 1890 Century Mag. Jan. 362/1 To have an American finish put to her education and manners. |
b. Building. The last coat of paint or plaster laid upon a surface.
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 417 Over this a coat of oil-colour..called the finish, is laid. |
3. The condition or quality of being finished or perfected.
| c 1805 M. Edgeworth Wks. (Rtldg.) I. 354 There was a want of finish, as the workmen call it, in my manufacture. 1857 H. Miller Test. Rocks vi. 229 They could not, compatibly with such nicety of finish, be laid over each other. 1876 Humphrey Coin-Coll. Man. xxvi. 397 High finish could not be obtained in the mode by which this massive money was produced. 1885 Newhall in Harper's Mag. Jan. 278/2 They [gloves] are tanned with sumac and gambier..as these produce softer finishes. 1885 Manch. Exam. 22 Feb. 5/3 Mr. Reeves sang with perfect finish. 1888 Cross & Bevan Text-bk. Paper-Making x. 159 The degree of smoothness or ‘finish’ that can be given to the paper by the calenders, depends..upon the degree of moisture which it contains. 1962 F. T. Day Introd. to Paper 115/1 Finish. This is the degree of smoothness applied to a paper. Finishes may vary: rough antique, smooth, mill finish, super calender, highly glazed or gloss finish. |
4. slang. A house of entertainment, where the night is finished.
| 1796 Grose Dict. Vulg. T. (ed. 3) The finish, a small coffee-house, in Covent-Garden market,..open very early in the morning. 1840 Fraser's Mag. Oct. 399/1 The pleasures of the metropolis—the theatres, the Cider⁓cellars, the Finish. 1859 Sala Tw. round Clock (1861) 17 The innumerable finishes and saloons. 1860 Thackeray Lovel (1869) 204 A weakly little man..whose pallid countenance told of Finishes and Casinos. |
5. (See quot.)
| 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts I. 58 Methylated spirit can be procured also in small quantities..containing in solution 1 oz. to the gallon of shellac, under the name of ‘finish’. 1888 Dumfries Standard 22 Feb. 3 The traffic in methylated spirit or ‘finish’ as it is popularly called. |
6. finish line, a real or imaginary line which marks the end of a race.
| 1899 Daily News 4 Oct. 3/4 Both yachts being then about three miles from the finish line. 1959 M. Shadbolt New Zealanders 86 The leaders in the junior race flashed across the finish-line. 1968 Guardian 28 June 1/5 Williams had been declared the winner, both for crossing the finish line first and on a corrected time basis. |
▪ II. finish, v.
(ˈfɪnɪʃ)
Forms: 4 finch, 4–6 fenys, fen-, fynissh, -ysch, -ysh, -ysshe, -esch, 4 finisch, 6– finish.
[ME. fenys, finisch, a. OF. feniss- (Fr. finiss-) lengthened stem of fenir (finir) = Pr. fenir, Cat. finir, It. finire:—L. fīnīre, f. fīnis end.]
1. a. trans. To bring to an end; to come to the end of, go through the last period or stage of. Often with gerund (formerly with inf.) as object: To ‘make an end of’, cease (doing something). † Also, rarely, To put an end to, cause to cease.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 3934 Then was þat ferli fiȝt finched þat time. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 4255 Qwene they had ffenyste þis feghte. 1481 Caxton Myrr. i. xx. 60 The sonne the whiche..neuer shal fynysshe to goo with the heuen. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lv. 185 Who so euer dyd fyght agaynst him were lyke myserably to fynysshe his days. 1603 Drayton Bar. Wars vi. 87 In Death what can be..That I should fear a Couenant to make With it, which welcom'd, finisheth my Woe? 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 674 His Griefs with Day begun, Nor were they finish'd with the setting Sun. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 567 That calm ambition of gold, in which all the ambitious finish their course. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest viii, Edward..had just finished a hearty meal. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 256 As he finished speaking. |
b. to finish off: to provide with an ending (of a certain kind).
| 1834 H. N. Coleridge Grk. Poets (ed. 2) 51 Plutarch finishes off the story in his usual manner. |
2. To bring to completion; to make or perform completely; to complete. Also with off, † up. † to finish to (do): to succeed completely in (doing).
| a 1400–50 Alexander 2144 For quen I done haue with Dary & my dede fenyschid. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xi. 41 Hys enterpryse that ful sore he desyred to fynysshe. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxii. 217 Whan the sacrement of baptysme was fynyshyd. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 84 In August [1553] was the aulter in Powlles set up agayne, and fenysyd in September. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 28 How many Dayes will finish vp the Yeare. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 269 When Nature hath finished to forme a man in all perfection. 1648 W. Mountague Devoute Ess. i. xviii. §3. 336 They expose themselves to the reproach of having begun what they were unable to finish. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 185 Yet have I not finished to attain the right Method, or way of ordering them. 1761–2 Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) III. xlvii. 694 The marriage of the princess Elizabeth with Frederic..was finished some time after the death of that prince. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 686 Finish sowing greenhouse plants. 1828 Scott F. M. Perth iii, He cuts all his gloves out for the right hand, and never could finish a pair in his life. 1848 C. K. Sharpe Let. 7 Feb. (1888) II. 590 That bloody-minded person who finished off the work. |
| absol. 1611 Bible 1 Chron. xxvii. 24 Ioab..began to number, but he finished not. 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. III. iv. ix. §5 God alone can finish. |
3. a. To deal with or dispose of the whole or the remainder of (an object); to complete the consumption of (food, one's stock of anything), the reading of (a book, etc.).
| 1526 Tindale Matt. x. 23 Ye shal nott fynysshe all the cites of israhel tyll the sonne of man be come. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxxi. 434 He and Brooks will doubtless finish the two [potatoes]. 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 72 Would you mind finishing the canto? |
b. To complete the destruction of; to dispatch, kill. Also in weaker sense: To complete the discomfiture or defeat of; to reduce to complete exhaustion or helplessness. Now chiefly colloq.
| 1611 Bible Dan. v. 26 God hath numbred thy kingdome, and finished it. 1755 Mem. Capt. P. Drake I. xvii. 187 Five Germans, who were resolved to finish me. 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 181 Lancaster..was completely finished. 1840 Goodrich P. Parley's Ann. 188 They were for finishing him [a wounded man] outright with their bayonets. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 308 If he still obstinates himself, he is finished by [etc.]. 1884 E. P. Roe Nat. Ser. Story ix, The moist sultriness..finished the ox-heart cherries. |
4. a. To perfect finally or in detail; to put the final and completing touches to (a thing). Also with off, up.
| 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 39 b, Those [the hands, arms and feet] bee..the partes whiche finishe the whole and make it perfecte. c 1555 Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (1878) 80 To perfect and finish our answer. 1611 Bible 2 Cor. viii. 6 Wee desired Titus, that as he had begun, so hee would also finish in you the same grace also. 1683 Soames tr. Boileau's Art of Poetry ii. 20 A faultless Sonnet, finish'd thus, would be Worth tedious Volumes of loose Poetry. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 249 They finish the plastering..by Trowelling and brishing it over with fair Water..and also brish over their new Plastering when they set, or finish it. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 7. 45 To a good natural Discernment Art must therefore be joined to finish a Critick. 1807 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. V. 713 He was compelled by his father to finish up his pottery minutely. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 17 The hole may be finished with a file. 1842 [see finger-nail]. |
| absol. 1852 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 187 The plasterers were..finishing off, and clearing away their scaffoldings. |
b. To complete or perfect the education of (a person).
| 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) IX. v. 169 She sent her most illustrious citizens to be finished and refined in Greece. 1796 Dr. Burney Metastasio I. 214 Most of the great singers..had been formed or finished by him. 1814 Jane Austen Watsons vii. (1879) 215 The accomplishments which are now necessary to finish a pretty woman. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 158 Where were you finished? |
c. To complete or perfect the fatting of (cattle).
| 1841 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. II. ii. 226 The cattle..by means of the turnip are ‘finished out’ and in a proper state for the butcher in the spring. 1851 Ibid. XII. ii. 334 Many flock⁓masters ‘finish’ their sheep before selling. 1865 Ibid. Ser. ii. I. ii. 259 If the lambs are well summered it will answer to finish them off in the house or yards. |
† d. With complement or into: To make into by a final operation. Obs.
| 1704 Swift Battle of Bks. Wks. 1778 I. 427 Polite conversation has finished thee a pedant. 1812 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XXXIV. 410 This earth is to be finished up into one vast terrestrial paradise. |
5. a. intr. To come to an end, reach the end; to cease, leave off. Also with off, up. Also, to end in (something), to end by (doing something).
| c 1450 Merlin iii. 54 They sey thei shull neuer fenisshe till thei haue auenged the deth of Aungis. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 248 And beganne to make so grete a sorowe as thoughe all the worlde had fynyssed a fore his eyen. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. xi. 212 Infernall payne that shall not fynysshe. 1527 R. Thorne His Booke in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 253 Which maine land..finisheth in the land which we found. 1563 Shute Archit. D j a, Wherwith finisheth the first. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 201 Exeter doth wish His dayes may finish, ere the haplesse time. 1788 Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 143 Partnerships often finish in quarrels. 1829 Landor Wks. (1868) I. 205/2 If we begin to reinstate old words, we shall finish by admitting new ones. 1863 Kingsley Water Bab. 10 Finishing off somewhere between 12 and 4. 1878 Harper's Mag. Nov. 892/2 Shall we finish up and have done with it, with a song at the end? 1902 R. Machray Night Side London i. 21 Others vanish into the night..finishing up..at some night-club, or in some other den. |
b. to finish with: (a) To cease to deal with, have done with; (b) to complete one's work at or upon.
| 1782 F. Burney Cecilia (1809) IV. 62 He approved..of her finishing wholly with the old Don. 1823 Southey Life (1850) V. 139 To-night I shall finish with Queen Mary's reign. 1939 G. B. Shaw Good King Charles ii. 102 How often have you told me that you are finished with all women! |
† c. To die. Obs.
| 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India Pref. 4 Considering that all flesh must finish, I seek for no quiet rest in this transitorie life. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 36 Who with wet cheekes Were present when she finish'd. |
d. Of a competitor in a sporting contest: to come to the end of a course or race (in a certain condition or ‘place’).
| 1881 Sat. Rev. 25 June 818/1 Kermesse..finished a couple of lengths in front of Kingdom. 1894 G. Moore Esther Waters ii, He told me..to bring the colt along and finish up close by where he would be standing. 1929 Star 21 Aug. 16/2 Every horse he has backed has finished out of the first three. 1971 Daily Tel. 29 Oct. 29/1 Lithiot finished threequarters of a length behind Gold Rod to be third in this big mile race. Ibid. 31/5 Randle finished third in the 350 cc Italian Grand Prix at Monza. |
† 6. trans. (After L. finire.) To assign a limit or boundary to; to limit. Obs. rare—1.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay iv. 47 So as he finish or bound himselfe. |