finishing

Pluralfinishings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of finish.

   The painters are finishing the last room this afternoon.

   Finishing the marathon took her over five hours.

   Note

   The -ing form does two grammatical jobs. After be it builds the progressive (they are finishing the last room). As a gerund it acts like a noun yet still takes a direct object (finishing the report took all night). That object is how to tell it from the noun for completing, which needs of: the finishing of the report. It also carries the farmer's use, where finishing cattle means fattening them before slaughter.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of completing something or bringing it to an end.

   The finishing of the renovation marked the end of months of work.

   Crowds gathered on the dock for the finishing of the long voyage.

   Similarcompletion, conclusion, end

   Oppositestart (entry), beginning

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The final work or decorative detail applied to something to complete its appearance.

   The cabinet's elegant finishing showed the craftsman's careful eye.

   They applied a glossy finishing to protect the wood and bring out its grain.

   Similardetailing, trim, coating

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A player's skill at scoring goals, especially by shooting the ball accurately into the net.

   The striker's clinical finishing made him the league's top scorer.

   Poor finishing cost the team several easy chances in the second half.

   Similarshooting, marksmanship

   Note

   Soccer separates creating a chance from converting it, and this word names the converting. It works as an uncountable noun: a player has excellent finishing, never a finishing. Clinical is its stock praise. Daniel Taylor, writing in The Guardian in 2013, set it against buildup play, judging that Benfica's finishing was not as refined as the passing that made their chances.

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