Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - finish

~1 v 1 »STOP DOING STH« to come to the end of doing or making something, so that it is complete  (finish sth)  (You can't go anywhere until you finish your homework. | finish doing sth)  (I finished typing the report just minutes before it was due. | "Are they still working on the road by you?" "No, they've finally finished.") 2 »STOP« especially BrE when an event, activity, or period of time finishes, it ends, especially at a particular time  (The football season finishes in May. | What time does school finish?) 3 »EAT« also finish up/off to eat or drink all the rest of something, so there is none left  (Finish up your peas or you won't get any dessert. | Sylvia finished her cigarette.) 4 »END WITH/BY« also finish off to complete an event, performance, piece of work etc by doing one final thing  (The party finished with a sing-song.) finish by doing sth  (She finished off her speech by thanking her sponsors.) 5 »RACE« to be in a particular position at the end of a race, competition etc  (I finished the 100 meters in sixth place.) 6 »SURFACE« to give the surface of something, especially wood, a smooth appearance by painting, polishing, or covering it  (The furniture had been attractively finished in a walnut veneer.) 7 »ALL SB'S STRENGTH ETC« finish sb to take away all of someone's strength, energy etc  (That last five-mile ride up the hill really finished me.) 8 »USE ALL OF STH« BrE to use up the entire supply of something, especially food  (The ice cream's finished, can you get some more?) 9 put/add the finishing touches to add the final detail or details that make your work complete finish off phr v 1 T finish something off) to use or eat all of something, so there is none left  (Who finished off the cake?) 2 T finish someone/something off) to kill a person or animal when they are already weak or wounded 3 T finish someone off) to take away all of someone's strength, energy etc  (It had already been an exhausting week, and that last argument just finished me off.) 4 T finish something off) to end a performance, event etc by doing one final thing  (We finished off the evening by going out for a drink.) finish up phr v 1 linking verb especially BrE to finally be in a particular place, condition etc at the end of a situation or series of events; end up (end2)  (We finished up in Rome after a three week tour. | I finished up completely broke, tired, and hungry.) 2 T finish something up) to eat or drink all the rest of something 3 to end an event, situation etc by doing one final thing finish with sth/sb phr v 1 especially BrE to no longer need to use something  (be finished with)  (Are you finished with the scissors?) 2 BrE to end a relationship with someone  (Michael's finally finished with Teresa after all these years.) ~2 n 1 the end or last part of something  (I was watching the race but I didn't get to see the finish. | from start to finish (=from the beginning of something until the end))  (The meeting was a disaster from start to finish. | a close finish (=an end of a race where two competitors are very close to each other)) 2 fight to the finish to fight until one side is completely defeated 3 the appearance of the surface of an object after it has been painted, polished etc  (That table has a beautiful finish.)