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What is the meaning of "they finished what was left of their kiwi salad" in the following sentence?
Mr. Putter and Mrs. Teaberry took off their shoes and put their feet in the water. They filled their cups with apple tea. They chewed their tomato sandwiches. And they finished what was left of their kiwi salad.
Does it mean "When they finished eating, they left their kiwi salad"?
What does "what" in the sentence mean?
The word what has certain functions and they are listed here in the dictionary. But in this context it functions as a relative pronoun and the meaning is "the thing(s) that" as Cambridge dictionary states here. Therefore, your example:
They finished what was left of their kiwi salad.
Equals to
They finished the thing/s that was /were left of their kiwi salad.
In the end of the day, the sentence means to say that they ate ("finished" it by eating) the kiwi salad that remained after they ate already most of it before.
Definition #1.1. of the verb to finish straight from the English Oxford Living Dictionaries:
1.1 Consume or get through the final amount or portion of (something, especially food or drink)
Example sentence:
'I came back in and finished my drink and looking back I can't recall that it tasted any different.'
So, initially, there was a kiwi salad. Some of it was eaten and some of it was left over. They came around and finished it—they ate the portion of the salad that was left over. In other words, they ate what was left over of the salad. The pronoun what there refers to the portion that was left over.
Take a look at this example:
I did what you asked me to do.
That what there refers to that which I was asked to do. Whatever it was. I did that which you asked me to do.
