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polish

[pol-ish]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to make smooth and glossy, especially by rubbing or friction: to polish a brass doorknob.
  2. to render finished, refined, or elegant: His speech needs polishing.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to become smooth and glossy through polishing: a flooring that polishes easily.
  2. Archaic. to become refined or elegant.
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noun
  1. a substance used to give smoothness or gloss: shoe polish.
  2. the act of polishing.
  3. state of being polished.
  4. smoothness and gloss of surface.
  5. superiority of manner or execution; refinement; elegance: the polish of a professional singer.
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Verb Phrases
  1. polish off, Informal.
    1. to finish or dispose of quickly: They polished off a gallon of ice cream between them.
    2. to subdue or get rid of someone: The fighter polished off his opponent in the first round.
  2. polish up, to improve; refine: She took lessons to polish up her speech.
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Origin of polish

1250–1300; Middle English polishen < Middle French poliss-, long stem of polir < Latin polīre to polish; see -ish2
Related formspol·ish·er, nounde·pol·ish, verb (used with object)in·ter·pol·ish, verb (used with object)o·ver·pol·ish, verb (used with object)pre·pol·ish, noun, verb (used with object)re·pol·ish, verb, noun

Synonyms

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1. shine, brighten, burnish, buff, smooth. 8. shine, gleam. Polish, gloss, luster, sheen refer to a smooth, shining, or bright surface from which light is reflected. Polish suggests the smooth, bright reflection often produced by friction: rubbed to a high polish. Gloss suggests a superficial, hard smoothness characteristic of lacquered, varnished, or enameled surfaces: a gloss on oilcloth, on paper. Luster denotes the characteristic quality of the light reflected from the surfaces of certain materials (pearls, silk, wax, freshly cut metals, etc.): a pearly luster. Sheen, sometimes poetical, suggests a glistening brightness such as that reflected from the surface of silk or velvet, or from furniture oiled and hand-polished: a rich velvety sheen.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

broomtoothbrushwhiskmopsweeperbesompolisherhairbrushwaxer

Examples from the Web for polisher

Historical Examples

  • Truth is his inspirer, and earnestness the polisher of his sentences.

    A Plea for Captain John Brown

    Henry David Thoreau

  • It reminded him of Teyssdre, the polisher, and his glass of good wine.

    The Immortal

    Alphonse Daudet

  • The bottom of the polisher is covered with a piece of Brussels carpet.

  • A lapidary is a cutter, polisher, or engraver of precious stones.

  • Constantinople had been the tutor and polisher of the Turks.

British Dictionary definitions for polisher

polish

verb
  1. to make or become smooth and shiny by rubbing, esp with wax or an abrasive
  2. (tr) to make perfect or complete
  3. to make or become elegant or refined
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noun
  1. a finish or gloss
  2. the act of polishing or the condition of having been polished
  3. a substance used to produce a smooth and shiny, often protective surface
  4. elegance or refinement, esp in style, manner, etc
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See also polish off, polish up
Derived Formspolishable, adjectivepolisher, noun

Word Origin

C13 polis, from Old French polir, from Latin polīre to polish

Polish

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Poland, its people, or their language
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noun
  1. the official language of Poland, belonging to the West Slavonic branch of the Indo-European family
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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

Word Origin and History for polisher

polish

v.

early 14c., polischen "make smooth," from Old French poliss-, present participle stem of polir (12c.) "to polish, decorate, see to one's appearance," from Latin polire "to polish, make smooth; decorate, embellish;" figuratively "refine, improve," said to be from Proto-Indo-European *pel- "to thrust, strike, drive" (via the notion of fulling cloth). The sense of "free from coarseness, to refine" first recorded in English mid-14c. Related: Polished; polishing. Slang polish off "finish" is 1837, from notion of applying a coat of polish being the final step in a piece of work.

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polish

n.

1590s, "absence of coarseness," from polish (v.). From 1704 as "act of polishing;" 1819 as "substance used in polishing."

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Polish

adj.

1670s, from Pole + -ish. Related: Polishness. Polish-American attested from 1898.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with polisher

polish

In addition to the idioms beginning with polish

  • polish off
  • polish the apple

also see:

  • spit and polish
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.