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
In the final night of track, the U.S. won both 4×400 relays and Masai Russell took gold in a photo finish in the 100-meter hurdles.
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Nhat V. Meyer, The Mercury News, 10 Aug. 2024
The race was so close that even the commentators nearly called the wrong winner before the photo finish, which showed Lyles being the first to lean over the finish line even as others managed to step over it before him.
—NBC News, 5 Aug. 2024
While both men were officially clocked in 9.79, the photo finish, going down to the thousandths of a second, gave Lyles a 9.784 to 9.789 edge.
—Scott M. Reid, Orange County Register, 5 Aug. 2024
The only thing missing, really, was the agonizing wait for Lyles, Thompson, and bronze-medalist Fred Kerley as the judges settled the photo finish.
—Sean Gregory / Saint-Denis, TIME, 5 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for photo finish 
Nhat V. Meyer, The Mercury News, 10 Aug. 2024
The race was so close that even the commentators nearly called the wrong winner before the photo finish, which showed Lyles being the first to lean over the finish line even as others managed to step over it before him.
—NBC News, 5 Aug. 2024
While both men were officially clocked in 9.79, the photo finish, going down to the thousandths of a second, gave Lyles a 9.784 to 9.789 edge.
—Scott M. Reid, Orange County Register, 5 Aug. 2024
The only thing missing, really, was the agonizing wait for Lyles, Thompson, and bronze-medalist Fred Kerley as the judges settled the photo finish.
—Sean Gregory / Saint-Denis, TIME, 5 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for photo finish
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'photo finish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Photo finish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/photo%20finish. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
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