finisher

From finish +‎ -er.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪnɪʃə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪnɪʃɚ/

finisher (plural finishers)

1. A person who finishes or completes something.

   The early finishers waited for the other runners to reach the finish line.

   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     He that of greatest works is finisher
     Oft does them by the weakest minister […]

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 12:1-2:

     […] let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith […]

2. A person who applies a finish to something, such as furniture.
3. The person who applies the gilding and decoration in bookbinding.
   • 1838, Abraham Lincoln, The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions: Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois‎, Springfield, Illinois:

     If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.

4. A construction machine used to smooth a newly constructed road surface.
5. (boxing) The blow that ends a fight; the knock-out blow.
   • 1934 June, Robert E. Howard, “General Ironfist”, in Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine:

     A thundering right to the head bent him back over the ropes, and then, just as I was setting myself for the finisher, I felt somebody jerking my pants leg […]

6. (video games, informal) A finishing move.
   • 1999, BradyGames, Secret Codes for Sega Dreamcast:

     Tie Up Fallaway Slam (Finisher)

   • 2002, Ben Cureton, Paul Edwards, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance™ Official Strategy Guide:

     Shadow Kick (OO+O) is best used as a punishing move and a combo finisher.

7. (sports) A player who scores points for their team.

   Synonym: scorer

   • 2013 September 22, Alistair Magowan, “Arsenal 3-1 Stoke City”, in BBC‎:

     After suffering a broken leg in a challenge from Stoke's Ryan Shawcross in 2010, the goal allowed Ramsey to put a positive slant on this fixture and show how he is evolving into a composed finisher.

   • 2022 October 19, Andre Snellings, “Fantasy basketball: Why Jalen Brunson can be even better in New York”, in ESPN‎:

     As such, when Doncic was on the court, Brunson was a secondary facilitator and more of a finisher than a creator.

8. (rugby) A substitute player who plays at the end of the game.
   • 2018 February 24, Paul Rees, “Finn Russell masterminds historic Scotland victory over England”, in The Guardian‎, London, archived from the original on 22 April 2018:

     [Eddie] Jones has used his bench as finishers and repeated last year’s ploy that helped overcome France when he brought on Ben Te’o for [George] Ford. [Dylan] Hartley and [Mike] Brown had already gone off, along with [Nathan] Hughes, whose replacement Sam Underhill was making an impact at the breakdown when he was sent to the sin-bin for a no-arms tackle on Barclay.

9. (automotive) A visible trim element.
   • 2017 January 10, Matt Burt, Autocar‎:

     Inside, the revised F-Type gets lightweight slimline seats and new chrome and aluminium trim finishers.

• refinish