to finish last
12
2.2
- phrasal verb
:
quedar en último lugar
- Maybe nice guys do finish last.
- nice guys finish last
- the team finished last
- always finish last
Nice guys finish last, but F boys like Dave get you paid first.
- Nice guys finish last, but F boys like Dave get you paid first.
- And there's a saying that nice guys always finish last.
- Because once we do this, we can fix all around this nice guy mentality because nice guys don't finish last.
Examples
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You know, before the season, the press picked us to finish last in our division.
-
Someone's got to finish last.
Fiction book (2000) -
Well, in this world, nice guys finish last.
-
Like the old saying goes, good guys finish last.
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Because actually, good guys always finish last.
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I will not finish last this time, she thought.
Fiction book (2002) -
LA Galaxy has before, and they are on pace again to finish last.
Blog text (33) -
Most of all, it seems that new runners are most afraid of finishing last.
Blog text (26) -
I know it always looks like nice guys finish last, but that's why I'm making this video for you because it's not true.
-
In the final standings, our team ended up finishing last in the tournament.
Antonyms
How Successful
146
2.4
12
2.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to come in last place' is directly derivable from combining 'finish' (to end/complete) with 'last' (in the final position): to end in the last place. This is a straightforward compositional verb + adjective pattern common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should understand it.
Etymology
Finish last comes from races: to finish is to reach the end line and to be last is to arrive after everyone else. So the phrase means 'to come in last place' or 'to be the least successful'.