n. Somebody or something that appears in the final stage of a competition.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. Any of the players who meet in the final round of a tournament in which the losers in any round do not play again.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. a contestant who reaches the final stages of a competition
Word Usage
""Getting a nomination for a World Technology Award was overwhelming, and to have been designated a finalist is abundantly above all I could have asked for.""