Cold and dismal, finish the job and get out (5)
I believe the answer is:
bleak
'cold' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'finish the job and get out' is the wordplay.
'finish' says to take the final letters.
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'get out' becomes 'leak' (leaking is a kind of getting out).
The final letter of 'job' is 'b'.
'b'+'leak'='BLEAK'
'and dismal' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bleak that I've seen before include "Desolate and barren" , "''... House'' (Dickens)" , "Cold and raw" , "Cold and unwelcoming" , "raw > fish" .)