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Tending to complete or to render fit for the market or for use. Finishing coat. (a) (Plastering) the final coat of plastering applied to walls and ceilings, usually white and rubbed smooth. (b) (Painting) The final coat of paint, usually differently mixed applied from the others. -- Finishing press, a machine for pres…

The finishing course of a wall showing above a cornice.

a small wire nail, with a flat circular head; sometimes, a small, tapering, square-bodied finishing nail, with a countersunk head.

A smooth coat of brown mortar, usually the second coat, and the preparation for the finishing coat of plaster.

To dress or finish up (cloth); to pick knots, burs, loose threads, etc., from, as in finishing cloth. Burling iron, a peculiar kind of nippers or tweezers used in burling woolen cloth.

The top sheaf of a stack of grain: (fig.) the crowning or finishing part of a thing.

The lining or finishing of any wall or other surface, with plaster, thin boards, etc.; also, the work when done.

A tool with several points, used for cutting or finishing screw threads, either external or internal, on work revolving in a lathe.

last stone in a horizontal course, if of a less size than the others, or a piece of brick finishing a course. Gwilt.

ded into quarters and nails. -- Cloth paper, a coarse kind of paper used in pressing and finishing woolen cloth. -- Cloth shearer, one who shears cloth and frees it from superfluous nap.

th which an executioner ends by death the sufferings of the condemned; hence, a decisive, finishing stroke. -- Coup de main (ke m Etym: [F.] (Mil.), a sudden and unexpected movement or attack. -- Coup de soleil (k Etym: [F.] (Med.), a sunstroke. See Sunstroke. -- Coup d'état (k Etym: [F.] (Politics), a sudden, decis…

The ornamental finishing which surmounts the ridge of a roof, canopy, etc. The finials of gables and pinnacles are sometimes called crest. Parker.

To form the topmost or finishing part of; to complete; to consummate; to perfect. Amidst the grove that crowns yon tufted hill. Byron. One day shall crown the alliance. Shak. To crown the whole, came a proposition. Motley.

The finishing up of a business; speedy performance, as of business; prompt execution; diligence; haste. Serious business, craving quick dispatch. Shak. To carry his scythe . . . with a sufficient dispatch through a sufficient space. Paley.

A trifle which wastes time or distracts attention. Prevented from finishing them [the letters] a thousand avocations and dissipations. Swift. Dissipation of energy. Same as Degradation of energy, under Degradation.

Gum, starch, and the like, used in stiffening or finishing silk, linen, and other fabrics.

The finishing of any face of a wall with material different from that of which it is chiefly composed, or the coating or material so used.

See Finishing coat, under Finishing.

fects; esp. used in the trades, as in hatting, weaving, etc., for the workman who gives a finishing touch to the work, or any part of it, and brings it to perfection. O prophet of glad tidings, finisher Of utmost hope! Milton.

ce note (Mus.), an appoggiatura. See Appoggiatura, and def. 11 above. -- Grace stroke, a finishing stoke or touch; a coup de grace. -- Means of grace, means of securing knowledge of God, or favor with God, as the preaching of the gospel, etc. -- To do grace, to reflect credit upon. Content to do the profession some…