finalize
See finalize in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(fīˈnə-līzˌ)
transitive verb fi·nal·ized,
fi·nal·iz·ing,
fi·nal·iz·es To put into final form; complete or conclude: “They have jointly agreed … to drop all litigation when the merger is finalized” (Springfield MA Union-News).
Related Forms:
- fiˌnal·i·zaˈtion (-lĭ-zāˈshən) noun
Usage Note: Once considered objectionable because of its association with the language of bureaucracy,
finalize is steadily gaining acceptance. In the late 1960s, 90 percent of the Usage Panel found the example
finalize plans for a class reunion unacceptable; in the late 1980s, 71 percent disapproved. By 1997, only 28 percent of the Usage Panel found it unacceptable in the sentence
We will send you more information once we finalize plans for the reunion. Although substitutes for
finalize can be found among
complete, conclude, make final, and
put into final form, none of these is an exact synonym. This may be why resistance to
finalize is eroding. See Usage Note at
prioritize.
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