[f. as prec. + -ING2.] That finishes; esp. in (to put, give, receive) the finishing († hand,) stroke or touch.
1705. Stanhope, Paraphr., II. 296. When they imagine sorrow to be, either the finishing, or the First act, of Repentance.
1707. Reflex. upon Ridicule, 330. A Mind well turn’d receives the finishing Stroke and Polishing from Science.
1754. A. Murphy, Gray’s-Inn Jrnl., No. 71, ¶ 4. In each Species of Writing I have given the finishing hand to some Pieces which have received the Approbation of a few Gentlemen of known Taste and perfectly versed in critical Matters.
1771. Walpole, Anecd. Painting, IV. 145 (On Gardening). We tire of all the painter’s art when it wants these finishing touches.
1831. Keble, Serm., v. (1848), 106. Here, as with the finishing touch, and the darkest of all, he completes his picture of that intense depravity, from which Christ came to rescue the Gentile world.
1858. R. S. Surtees, ‘Ask Mamma,’ lxxxi. 354. Risen sufficiently early to enable them to put the finishing stroke to their respective arrangements, and then to apparel themselves for the occasion.
