polish
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈpɒl.ɪʃ//
- United States//ˈpɑ.lɪʃ//
A substance used to polish.
noun
- 1
A substance used to polish.
A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.
- 2
Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.
The floor was waxed to a high polish.
- 3
Refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation.
The lecturer showed a lot of polish at his last talk.
Etymology
From Middle English polishen, from Old French poliss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of polir, from Latin polīre (“to polish, make smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to drive, strike, thrust”), from the notion of fulling cloth.
verb
- 1
To shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding.
He polished up the chrome until it gleamed.
- 2
To refine; remove imperfections from.
The band has polished its performance since the last concert.
Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- 3
To apply shoe polish to shoes.
- 4
To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface.
Steel polishes well.
The other [gold], whether it will polish so well Wherein for the latter [brass] it is probable it will
- 5
To refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite.
Arts that polish Life.
Educated at private schools and polished at Cambridge
Forms
- plural
- polishes
- past tense
- polished
- past participle
- polished
- present participle
- polishing
- third person singular
- polishes