phrasal verb (idiom) · neutral
put the finishing touches on
UK/pʊt ðə ˈfɪnɪʃɪŋ ˈtʌtʃɪz ɒn/US/pʊt ðə ˈfɪnɪʃɪŋ ˈtʌtʃəz ɑn/put·the·FIN·ish·ing·TOUCH·es·on
to complete the final small details of something so that it is finished
Examples
“We just need to put the finishing touches on the report before submitting it.”
“The chef put the finishing touches on the dish with a sprinkle of herbs.”
“They are putting the finishing touches on the new website this week.”
Band 8 sentence
“The design team spent the afternoon putting the finishing touches on the prototype before the client review.”
Collocations
- put the finishing touches on a report/project/design
Word family
Common mistakes
put finishing touches→put the finishing touches on
put finishing touch on→put the finishing touches on
Say it for a higher band
5finish→6finalise→7+put the finishing touches on
Synonyms
finalise
polish off
Easily confused
finalise
“We need to finalise the terms of the contract before signing.”
Related words
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