How to use finish in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Finish means an end; the end of anything. Example: “The car's finish was so shiny and new.”

Examples of finish by meaning

nounAn end; the end of anything.

Noel meets a cruel finish: "Kid," the government lackey who "protects" the clubs in the tourist belt, shoots Noel dead in an alley for stealing Pining out of the brothel.1990 August 18, Karin Aguilar-San Juan, “The Boston Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Continues”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 6...

nounA protective coating given to wood or metal and other surfaces.

The car's finish was so shiny and new.
They're sipping Darjeeling tea, and the silver tea set is polished to a mirror finish so reflective that you can see your likeness.2026 May, Stacie Stukin, “Historic Opportunity”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 74

nounA shot on goal, especially one that ends in a goal.

Bulgaria gave a hint of defensive frailties to come when they failed to clear Young's corner, and when Gareth Barry found Cahill in the box he applied the finish past Nikolay Mihaylov.2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC
It was a luscious finish and the crowd enjoyed it.2023 August 12, Suzanne Wrack, “England hit back to beat Colombia and set up World Cup semi with Australia”, in The Guardian

nounThe stoppage or conclusion of a bout before the scheduled rounds expire, resulting in an immediate victory via knockout...

Oliveira holds multiple UFC records, notably the most submission wins in the organization's history at 17, most finishes at 21 and most bonuses at 21.

verbTo complete (something).

Be sure to finish your homework before you go to bed!
Why doesn't Italy finish their buildings2024 May 6, @thepunbible, Twitter, archived from the original on 28 Jun 2024

verbTo apply a treatment to (a surface or similar).

The furniture was finished in teak veneer.
Seats are trimmed in a grey and blue moquette and tables are finished with grey Vyanide tops, gilt edging and ebony legs.1961 February, “New "Mini-Buffets" from Wolverton”, in Trains Illustrated, page 79

verbTo change an animal's food supply in the months before it is due for slaughter, with the intention of fattening the...

Due to BSE, cows in the United Kingdom must be finished and slaughtered before 30 months of age.

verbTo come to an end.

We had to leave before the concert had finished.

More sentences with finish

After finishing second-bottom in the table, United were relegated from the division.From the entry relegate
I started to watch the video yesterday, but could only finish it this evening.From the entry yesterday
I was the first runner to reach the finish line, and won the race.From the entry first
The runners drew level with each other as they approached the finish line.From the entry draw
Who knows? Maybe someday he'll finish writing his book and make lots of money selling it.From the entry who knows
Several horses ran in a horse race: the first one to reach the finishing post won.From the entry race
We had a race to see who could finish the book the quickest.From the entry race
He is done, after three falls there is no chance he will be able to finish.From the entry done
He just wanted to finish this hand, so he showed as soon as he could.From the entry show
You're finishing the chowder if you sit there (motionless) all evening!From the entry sit
His car spun in the rains just after finishing lap four.From the entry spin
Could you unwind about a foot of ribbon so I can finish the package?From the entry unwind
You have a two-hour window of clear weather to finish working on the lawn.From the entry window
I finished in five minutes and she showed me up by finishing in three.From the entry show up
He procrastinated until the last minute and had to stay up all night to finish.From the entry procrastinate
I have another two dozen of these puppies to finish before I can go home.From the entry puppy
The student put down junk for answers just to finish his homework more quickly.From the entry junk
We can't finish harvesting because our combine is stuck in the mud.From the entry combine
The first runner to cross the finish line wins the race.From the entry runner
The five exhausted runners crossed the finish line one after the other.From the entry finish line
Once we finish framing the house, we'll hang tin on the roof.From the entry frame
With a strong finish he ended up in the third-ranked slot overall.From the entry slot
After waiting two years for her husband to finish the tiling, she decided to hire it done.From the entry hire
I need to prime these handrails before we can apply the finish coat.From the entry prime
This antique chair's inlays have been overpainted, but we can restore its finish.From the entry overpaint
He sat at his desk for hours, trying to finish the report.From the entry desk
The race for silver medal was desperately close, they needed a photo finish to separate the runners.From the entry desperately
You can go to the party provided you finish all your homework first.From the entry provided

Meaning of finish

noun An end; the end of anything.
noun A protective coating given to wood or metal and other surfaces.
noun The result of any process changing the physical or chemical properties of cloth.

Full definition of finish

Questions about finish in a sentence

How do you use finish in a sentence?: Finish is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The car's finish was so shiny and new.”
What is a short sentence with finish?: “Why doesn't Italy finish their buildings”
What does finish mean?: Finish means an end; the end of anything.

Adapted from Wiktionary: finish (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use finish in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/finish. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.