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Synonyms

polish off

British  

verb

  1. to finish or process completely

  2. to dispose of or kill; eliminate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
polish off Idioms  

  1. Finish or dispose of, especially quickly and easily. For example, We polished off the pie in no time, or If everyone helps, we can polish off this job today. This usage, dating from the early 1800s, came from boxing, where it originally meant “to defeat an opponent quickly and easily.” By the 1830s it was used more generally.

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.

“Paradise” is not “about” climate collapse or nuclear weapons or a giant asteroid or an unstoppable virus, or any of the things that typically polish off the world in postapocalyptic fiction.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2025

A disproportionate number not only did not even passively resist but showed themselves eager to lick the polish off Hitler’s jackboots, if necessary.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2024

Dripping with honey butter and fruity jam, the biscuits are impossible not to polish off.

From New York Times • Dec. 26, 2022

A final improvement to the latter method boosted accuracy, and together the three approaches were able to polish off all but five of the final trouble spots.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 30, 2022

After I polish off the rest of the kabob, I tell my friends, “I just had history,” remembering what I was excited to share with them.

From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan

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.