finish off

present singular third person finishes off · participle present finishing off · participle past finished off · past finished off

1. transitiveTo finish completely.

   Near-synonym: polish off (sometimes synonymous)

   3 more examples

   I was hungry, so I finished off the last of the cakes.

   I finished off all the outstanding orders before I clocked out.

   However, the hosts hit back and hit back hard, first replacement hooker Andrew Hore sliding over, then Williams careering out of his own half and leaving several defenders for dead before flipping the ball to Nonu to finish off a scintillating move.

   2011 September 16, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: New Zealand 83-7 Japan”, in BBC Sport

   Synonyms: polish off

2. transitiveTo kill, to cause to die.

   It was the blow to the head that finished him off, not the bullet wound.

   2 more examples

   In some ways having Jon be the one to kill Dany was actually the least interesting option, but the symbolic weight of the truest believer finishing her off made sense.

   2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 22 May 2019

   By Noem’s own detailed admission, it took two blasts from a shotgun, separated by a walk back to her truck for more shells, to finish the goat off.

   2024 April 28, Martin Pengelly, “Kristi Noem dogged by poor polling amid fallout from tale of killing puppy”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

3. ambitransitiveslanglifestyleTo bring to orgasm.

   1 more example

   It's a great idea to get good at using vibrators both on yourself (if you like them) and on partners. For many women, vibrators are part and parcel of good sex. Sometimes you'll like having unassisted sex for a while and then finish off with a vibrator. Sometimes a vibe can be great to add to penetrative sex.

   2016, Allison Moon, “Mapping Your Route: Anatomy & Orgasm”, in Girl Sex 101, 2nd edition, Lunatic Ink, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 117