polish the apple

Save This Word!

Try to win favor through flattery, as in It may help your standing with the boss if you polish the apple. This expression gave rise to the phrase apple polishing. The idiom alludes to the practice of schoolchildren bringing their teacher the gift of a bright, shiny apple. [c. 1920]

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Words nearby polish the apple

polished, polished rice, Polish Lowland sheepdog, Polish notation, polish off, polish the apple, polish up, Polish wheat, polit., Politburo, polite

How to use polish the apple in a sentence

Leapolitan responded by saying, “hopefully youll [sic] bite into a poison apple.”
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
France 24 is providing live, round-the-clock coverage of both scenes as they progress.
LIVE Coverage of the Paris Terror Attacks||January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

“Gronkowski” itself never manages to sound more erotic than the name of a hearty Polish stew or a D-list WWE performer.
‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sleek finds it far harder work than fortune-making; but he pursues his Will-o'-the-Wisp with untiring energy.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
This gives to the second volume something of the smell of an apple store-room.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 107, November 3, 1894|Various
Twenty acres of apple trees all in a orchard together, and twenty acres of strawberries set out betwixt and between the rows!
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) Ogden
All this while Squinty was chewing on the apple which he had picked up from the ground after he had jumped over the rope.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
And it did not take Squinty long to learn to jump the rope when there was no apple on the other side.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum