short strokes

Etymology
Possibly an allusion to painting, in which a painter typically finishes a work with short, careful, finishing strokes of the paint brush, or to golf, in which a player concludes each hole by making short strokes with a putter.

Noun

 * 1)  The final steps of an undertaking, especially one which has been lengthy or laborious.
 * 2)  Bare essentials.
 * 3) * 2005, Martin Levin, "Shelf Life" (review of Close Range by Annie Proulx), Globe and Mail (Canada), 15 Jan., p. D13:
 * She can evoke an entire scene in short strokes, as in this from "The Wamsutter Wolf": "This trailer was in ruins, broken-backed because its west end had slipped off the cinder-block supports. All the windows had been shot out."
 * 1)  Bare essentials.
 * 2) * 2005, Martin Levin, "Shelf Life" (review of Close Range by Annie Proulx), Globe and Mail (Canada), 15 Jan., p. D13:
 * She can evoke an entire scene in short strokes, as in this from "The Wamsutter Wolf": "This trailer was in ruins, broken-backed because its west end had slipped off the cinder-block supports. All the windows had been shot out."

Synonyms

 * , final effort, last gasp

Translations

 * Finnish: