The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Finishing \Fin"ish*ing\, n.
   The act or process of completing or perfecting; the final
   work upon or ornamentation of a thing.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Finishing \Fin"ish*ing\, a.
   Tending to complete or to render fit for the market or for
   use.
   [1913 Webster]

   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 pressing fabrics.

   Finishing rolls (Iron Working), the rolls of a train which
      receive the bar from roughing rolls, and reduce it to its
      finished shape. --Raymond.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Finish \Fin"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Finished; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Finishing.] [F. finir (with a stem finiss- in several
   forms, whence E. -ish: see -ish.),fr. L. finire to limit,
   finish, end, fr. finis boundary, limit, end; perh. for
   fidnis, and akin findere to cleave, E. fissure.]
   1. To arrive at the end of; to bring to an end; to put an end
      to; to make an end of; to terminate.
      [1913 Webster]

            And heroically hath finished
            A life heroic.                        --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To bestow the last required labor upon; to complete; to
      bestow the utmost possible labor upon; to perfect; to
      accomplish; to polish.

   Syn: To end; terminate; close; conclude; complete;
        accomplish; perfect.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

finishing
    n 1: a decorative texture or appearance of a surface (or the
         substance that gives it that appearance); "the boat had a
         metallic finish"; "he applied a coat of a clear finish";
         "when the finish is too thin it is difficult to apply
         evenly" [syn: coating, finish, finishing]
    2: the act of finishing; "his best finish in a major tournament
       was third"; "the speaker's finishing was greeted with
       applause" [syn: finish, finishing] [ant: beginning,
       commencement, start]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

65 Moby Thesaurus words for "finishing":
   ablation, absorption, assimilation, attrition, burning up, capping,
   close, closing, completing, completion, completive, completory,
   concluding, conclusion, conclusive, consummative, consummatory,
   consumption, crowning, culminating, culmination, culminative,
   depletion, digestion, drain, eating up, end, ending, erosion,
   exhaustion, expending, expenditure, final, finalizing, finish,
   fulfilling, full development, impoverishment, ingestion, last,
   maturation, maturity, perfecting, perfection, perfective, ripeness,
   rounding off, rounding out, spending, squandering, terminal,
   terminating, termination, terminative, terminus, topping off,
   ultimate, using up, wastage, waste, wastefulness, wasting away,
   wearing away, wearing down, windup