polish

pol|ish¹ [ˈpɔlıʃ US ˈpa:-] v [T]

[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: polir, from Latin polire]

1.) to make something smooth, bright, and shiny by rubbing it

▪ I spent all afternoon polishing the silver.

polish sth with sth

▪ Polish the lenses with a piece of tissue.

2.) to improve a piece of writing, a speech etc by making slight changes to it before it is completely finished

▪ Your essay is good, you just need to polish it a bit.

>polishing n [U]

polish off [polish sb/sth<=>off] phr v

a) to finish food, work etc quickly or easily

▪ Sam polished off the rest of the pizza.

b) AmE to kill or defeat a person or animal when they are weak or wounded

▪ He was polished off with a shotgun blast to the face.

polish up [polish sth<=>up] phr v

1.) also polish up on sth

to improve a skill or an ability by practising it

▪ You should polish up your Spanish before you go to Chile.

2.) to make something seem better or more attractive to other people

▪ The company needs to polish up its image.

3.) to polish something

polish ²

polish² n

1.) [U and C]

a liquid, powder, or other substance that you rub into a surface to make it smooth and shiny

furniture/shoe/floor etc polish

→↑French polish

2.) [singular] especially BrE an act of polishing a surface to make it smooth and shiny

▪ An occasional polish will keep wall tiles looking good.

3.) [U]

a high level of skill or style in the way someone performs, writes, or behaves

▪ Carla's writing has potential, but it lacks polish.

4.) [singular]

the smooth shiny appearance of something produced by polishing

→spit and polish at ↑spit² (5)