furbish
Americanverb (used with object)
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to restore to freshness of appearance or good condition (often followed by up ).
to furbish a run-down neighborhood; to furbish up one's command of a foreign language.
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to polish.
verb
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to make bright by polishing; burnish
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(often foll by up) to improve the appearance or condition of; renovate; restore
Other Word Forms
- furbisher noun
- unfurbished adjective
Etymology
Origin of furbish
1350–1400; Middle English furbishen < Middle French forbiss-, long stem of forbir to polish, clean < Germanic; compare Old High German furban
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Andrew Friedman arrived in Los Angeles, he hoped to furbish a player-development machine that hummed like the one in St. Louis.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2016
Yet it seems to be more important to furbish large roadside coffee pots,” McCain said.
From Washington Post • Oct. 31, 2011
The Nova-Park Elys�es, which sits on the site of the century-old Paris-Match building and retains its fa�ades, cost about $45 million to furbish and furnish.
From Time Magazine Archive
He grew increasingly convinced that I was needlessly trafficking with his enemies in the "Georgetown set" and at the same time was using my public relations skills to furbish my image and not his.
From Time Magazine Archive
She would have Sophie to look over all her “toilettes,” as she called frocks; to furbish up any that were “passées,” and to air and arrange the new.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
