English

Noun

grand finale ‎(plural grand finales)

1. (set phrase) The concluding event or development in a process, performance, or other series of events, made with a special flourish and often in a remarkable or spectacular manner.
   • 1810, Sir Walter Scott, Letter to the printer of the first edition of Lady of the Lake (from 1883 edition, edited by William J. Rolfe, Canto 6, line 605n):

     I send the grand finale, and so exit the Lady of the Lake from the head she has tormented for six months.

   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel, ch. 27:

     [H]e felt more and more eager for the grand finale of this exciting chase after the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel.

   • 1986 Oct. 6, "Thailand: Uneasy Lies the Head," Time (retrieved 29 July 2015):

     Beauty pageants are supposed to be Cinderella tales, where at the grand finale the queen sobs tears of joy while the losers hug her valiantly.

   • 2007 April 4, Lawrence Van Gelder, "Circus Review: Clowns, Daredevils and Plenty of Volume," New York Times (retrieved 29 July 2015):

     In keeping with the grand tradition of the Ringling Brothers Circus, this edition offers a cavalcade of elephants, glimpses of goats, leggy dancers, fireworks, acrobats and not one but two people, the husband-and-wife team Tina and Brian Miser, blasted out of a cannon in the grand finale.

See also

• grand final