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Fill vs Finish - What's the difference?

fill | finish |

In transitive terms the difference between fill and finish

is that fill is to fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy while finish is to change an animal's food supply in the months before it is due for slaughter, with the intention of fattening the animal.

In intransitive terms the difference between fill and finish

is that fill is to become pervaded with something while finish is to come to an end.

As a proper noun Fill

is {{surname|from=given names}.

fill

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), (m), from (etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)
  • (label) To occupy fully, to take up all of.
  • * (Tobias Smollett), translator, (Don Quixote) , part 2, book 5, chapter 4:
  • * (Charles Dickens), , chapter 38:
  • And now that I have given the one chapter to the theme that so filled my heart, and so often made it ache and ache again, I pass on, unhindered, to the event that had impended over me longer yet.
  • (label) To add contents to (a container, cavity or the like) so that it is full.
  • * , chapter=3
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • * 1950 , , The Bachelors of Broken Hill , chapter 11:
  • She continued to frown as she filled Bony's cup and added brandy to her own.
  • * 2005 , (Wendy Coakley-Thompson), , 2006 edition, ISBN 0758207484, page 10 [http://google.com/books?id=D8d9M2Lhe3IC&pg=PA10&dq=fill]:
  • She forgave him the pain as he filled' the cavity in her back molar. Three weeks later, she let him ' fill a more intimate cavity.
  • * 2006 , (Gilbert Morris), Sante Fe Woman , , page 95 [http://google.com/books?id=LepY_wtPjvIC&pg=PA95&dq=%22filled+his+plate%22]:
  • Grat Herendeen was the first man, a huge man with his bull whip coiled and over his shoulder seeming almost a part of him. He grinned at her as she filled his plate with the eggs and motioned toward the bacon. "Help yourself, Grat."
  • To enter (something), making it full.
  • * 1910 May 13, John C. Sherwin, opinion, Delashmutt et al. ''v.'' et al.'', reprinted in volume 126, ''(North Western Reporter) , page 359, at 360:
  • In the evening of the 14th of July, there was a rainfall of 3 or 3½ inches in that locality. The water filled the ditch so full that it overflowed the levees on both sides in many places.
  • * 2004 , Peter Westen, The Logic of Consent , , ISBN 0754624072, page 322 [http://google.com/books?id=17bAKRvHBkcC&pg=PA322&dq=%22as+the+crowd+filled%22]:
  • As the crowd filled the aisles, S repeated loudly what he had announced upon entering the stadium: 'I don't want anyone to touch me, and I will call the police if anyone does.'
  • (label) To become full.
  • (label) To become pervaded with something.
  • (label) To satisfy or obey (an order, request or requirement).
  • (label) To install someone, or be installed, in (a position or office), eliminating a vacancy.
  • * 1866 , , The Negro , pages 18–19 [http://google.com/books?id=E0N-AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA19&dq=filled]:
  • It is impossible to resist the conclusion, which experience and history tend to prove, that, the continuous movement of such a vast body of mankind has been influenced by natural laws, that, the negro has filled the position for which he is fitted by nature, and, that, his services were brought into use when the emergency arose necessitating his employment.
  • * 1891 January 23, Allen Morse, opinion, Lawrence ''v.'' Hanley'', reprinted in volume 47, ''Northwestern Reporter , page 753, at 755:
  • The board of supervisors called a specal(SIC) election to fill the office, and at such special election Henry C. Andrews was elected judge of probate to fill out the said term.
  • (label) To treat (a tooth) by adding a dental filling to it.
  • * "Intimate Diagnosis of Diseased Teeth", in Items of Interest: A Monthly Magazine of Dental Art, Science and Literature , volume 13, number 11, November 1891, page 657 [http://google.com/books?id=eS21AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA657&dq=%22filled+the+molar%22]:
  • Be that as it may, had the disturbance continued after our having filled the molar, and presuming that nothing had been done to the bicuspid, we might have been still as far as ever from knowing where the trouble lay.
  • (label) To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
  • * Bible, Matthew xv. 33
  • Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Things that are sweet and fat are more filling .
  • To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails.
  • Synonyms
    * pervade
    Antonyms
    * (add contents to a container or cavity) empty * (to become full) empty
    Derived terms
    {{der3, backfill , filler , fill in , filling , filling station , fill in the blank , fill one's face , fill one's hand , fill out , fill someone's shoes , fill the bill , fill up , refill}}

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (label) A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.
  • Don't feed him any more: he's had his fill .
  • An amount that fills a container.
  • ''The mixer returned to the plant for another fill .
  • The filling of a container or area.
  • That machine can do 20 fills a minute.
    This paint program supports lines, circles, and textured fills .
  • Inexpensive material used to occupy empty spaces, especially in construction.
  • The ruins of earlier buildings were used as fill for more recent construction.
  • (label) Soil and/or human-created debris discovered within a cavity and exposed by excavation; fill soil.
  • Derived terms
    {{der3, , fill soil , , flood fill , landfill , , seed fill}}

    Etymology 3

    See (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.
  • (Mortimer)
  • * 2008 , Martha E. Green, Pioneers in Pith Helmets
  • It was a challenge to learn to harness him, guide him slowly back between the fills of the carriage, then to fasten the right buckles and snaps, making the harness and buggy all ready for travel to church or to town.
    English ergative verbs 1000 English basic words ----

    finish

    English

    Noun

    (es)
  • an end: the end of anything
  • a protective coating given to wood or metal and other surfaces
  • the result of any process changing the physical or chemical properties of cloth
  • (label) a shot on goal, especially one that ends in a goal
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=September 2 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Bulgaria 0-3 England , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The Italian opted for Bolton's Cahill alongside captain John Terry - and his decision was rewarded with a goal after only 13 minutes. Bulgaria gave a hint of defensive frailties to come when they failed to clear Young's corner, and when Gareth Barry found Cahill in the box he applied the finish past Nikolay Mihaylov.}}

    Verb

  • (label) to complete (something)
  • (label) to apply a treatment to (a surface or similar)
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10 , passage=Mr. Cooke had had a sloop?yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed, and which was but just delivered. […] The Maria had a cabin, which was finished in hard wood and yellow plush, and accommodations for keeping things cold.}}
  • (label) to change an animal's food supply in the months before it is due for slaughter, with the intention of fattening the animal
  • (label) to come to an end
  • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (the (-ing) form). See

    Derived terms

    * nice guys finish last

    Antonyms

    * (to complete) initiate, begin, start