lean on, strong finish, fall about, the second-place finisher

 Democrats Press Thompson to Forsake a Runoff

By DAVID W. CHEN, MICHAEL BARBARO and THOMAS KAPLAN

Power brokers turned up the pressure on William C. Thompson Jr., the second-place finisher in the primary in the New York City mayoral race, to back Bill de Blasio.

Friends and colleagues say that for all his bombast, Newt Gingrich has leaned on his wives — including Marianne, his second, in 1996 — to help project his vision of himself.


Slow Month for Retailers, but Strong Finish Is Seen
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Retailing analysts said sales declines were minor and that many consumers were saving their strength for the day after Thanksgiving. 


They cheer when the woman appears to be mastering the task in hand. But then the students fall about laughing as she appears to be carrying out a three-point turn instead of parking.
當這名婦女看起來上手時，他們歡呼鼓勵。但接著這群學生全都笑翻了，因為她顯然是在3點轉向，而非停車。

fall about

British informal laugh uncontrollably: audiences used to fall about when he shrugged his shoulders
fall about laughing：動詞片語，大笑不止。例句：They fell about laughing when I told them the news.（當我告訴他們這個消息時，他們都忍不住大笑。）




lean on
1. Rely on, depend on, as in He's leaning on me for help. [Mid-1400s]
2. Exert pressure on one, especially to obtain something or make one do something against his or her will. For example, The gangsters were leaning on local storekeepers to pay them protection money. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

finish

v., -ished, -ish·ing, -ish·es. v.tr.

1. To arrive at or attain the end of: finish a race.
2. To bring to an end; terminate: finished cleaning the room.
3. To consume all of; use up: finish a pie.
4. To bring to a desired or required state: finish a painting. See synonyms at complete.
5. To give (wood, for example) a desired or particular surface texture.
6. To destroy; kill: finished the injured horse with a bullet.
7. To bring about the ruin of: The stock market crash finished many speculators.

v.intr.

1. To come to an end; stop.
2. To reach the end of a task, course, or relationship.

n.

1. The final part; the conclusion: racers neck-and-neck at the finish.
2. The reason for one's ruin; downfall.
3. Something that completes, concludes, or perfects, especially:
   1. The last treatment or coating of a surface: applied a shellac finish to the cabinet.
   2. The surface texture produced by such a treatment or coating.
   3. A material used in surfacing or finishing.
4. Completeness, refinement, or smoothness of execution; polish.
5. The flavor left in the mouth after wine has been swallowed.

[Middle English finishen, from Old French finir, finiss-, to complete, from Latin fīnīre, from fīnis, end.]

finisher fin'ish·er n.

finisher

Syllabification: (fin·ish·er)

Pronunciation: /ˈfiniSHər/

noun

• 1a person or thing that finishes something, in particular.
• a person who reaches the end of a race or other sporting competition:a third-place finisher
• (in soccer) a player who scores a goal:he is one of the best finishers at the club
• a worker or machine performing the last operation in a manufacturing process.

2an animal that has been fattened ready for slaughter: [as modifier]:finisher pigs