photo finish

noun

1

: a race or finish in which contestants are so close that a photograph of them as they cross the finish line has to be examined to determine the winner

2

: a close contest

Examples of photo finish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The 29-year-old Lyles won gold in the 100 at Paris in a photo finish, narrowly edging out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson and becoming the first American man to win the Olympic sprint since Justin Gatlin in 2004. — Zack Pierce, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

This time the 11-10 favorite found himself on the wrong side of a five-horse photo finish. — Jay Posner, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026

The German won the men's marathon at the European championships on Sunday morning by a whopping 7 seconds, less than a year after missing out on gold in a photo finish at the world championships in Tokyo. — ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026

Wednesday's episode of the long-running primetime game show came down to a photo finish between returning champion Dan Laine from Jersey City, AJ Maroney from Boston, and Katelyn Mueller-McLean from San Francisco. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 11 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for photo finish

• diminish
• finnish
• minish

Kids Definition

photo finish

noun

1

: a finish of a race in which contestants are so close that a photograph of them crossing the finish line has to be examined to decide the winner

2

: a close contest (as in an election)