<noun.event> they were on the homestretch when the computer crashed
the straight stretch of a racetrack leading to the finish line
<noun.artifact>
homestretch \homestretch\ n. 1. the straight segment of a racetrack leading to the finish line. [WordNet sense 1] [WordNet 1.5]
2. Hence: [fig.] The last or concluding part of any extended activity that has a definite conclusion; the final phase of any activity; as, the election was neck-and-neck in the homestretch. [PJC]
Chemical's withdrawal from the bank group comes in the homestretch of negotiations over terms of a proposed bank financing that would total roughly $4 billion.
"We have crossed the threshold," said Joseph Grillo, the operations manager. "We are in the homestretch toward full-power operation, and everyone here is excited about it." Still unresolved is whether Seabrook will ever operate commercially.
Answering questions Sunday as he entered the homestretch of the 1988 campaign, Quayle said he was offended by Dukakis' suggestion that he would be unfit to head a White House crisis management team in a Bush administration.
Now, in the homestretch of the campaign, the Democrats have unveiled South Africa's first cinematic political advertisements, which appear amid film previews and cigarette commercials at movie theaters nationwide.
"We're in the homestretch of that effort," the spokesman said.