finish out

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English[edit]

Verb[edit]

finish out (third-person singular simple present finishes out, present participle finishing out, simple past and past participle finished out)

  1. (transitive) To finish up, to complete, something previously started, particularly a time frame.
    • 2001, Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp, page 82:
      A former Spitfire pilot in the Royal Air Force who had been shot down over Germany and finished out the war in a POW camp.
    • 2019 September 30, David Ford, How You Finish Is What Counts, Christian Faith Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:
      Don accepted the new job, and they decided to let Billy finish out the school year before he and Jan moved to their new home. Even though it was a hundred-mile drive one way, Jan and Billy were there for Don's first sermon in the new []
    • 2021, Syl Sobel, Jay Rosenstein, Boxed out of the NBA, page 25:
      They finished out the season in the NBL as the first all-black team in organized professional basketball, with Gates as player-coach.

Usage notes[edit]

The verbs finish up and finish out are slightly different: finishing up implies a shorter amount of time to completion, whereas finish out suggests a perceived longer time.

Collocations[edit]