finish out

English

Verb

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

(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

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

to finish out strong
to finish out undefeated
to finish out a season
to finish out a year
to finish out a term
to finish out school
to finish out a week
to finish out a career
to finish out a stay
to finish out a semester
to finish out a presidency
to finish out a contract
to finish out a degree
to finish out a sentence
to finish out a shift
to finish out a remainder
to finish out a session