to become smooth and glossy through polishing.
a flooring that polishes easily.
Archaic. to become refined or elegant.
polish up to improve; refine.
She took lessons to polish up her speech.
polish off
to finish or dispose of quickly.
They polished off a gallon of ice cream between them.
to subdue or get rid of someone.
The fighter polished off his opponent in the first round.
to make or become smooth and shiny by rubbing, esp with wax or an abrasive
(tr) to make perfect or complete
to make or become elegant or refined
a finish or gloss
the act of polishing or the condition of having been polished
a substance used to produce a smooth and shiny, often protective surface
elegance or refinement, esp in style, manner, etc
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.
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English polishen, from Middle French poliss-, long stem of polir, from Latin polīre “to polish”; see -ish 2
When you polish something, you rub and buff it until it shines. You might need to polish your reading glasses from time to time. You might polish your wooden coffee table with a cloth or polish beach stones until they gleam. Polish is also a noun, meaning either the spray you use to shine up your furniture or the shininess itself: "The polish on that desk is unbelievable — I can almost see my reflection in it!" There is also a figurative kind of polish, a sort of elegance or clarity you might see in well-edited writing or a fashionable woman sliding into a taxi.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In interviews and on the stump, she conveys both polish and authenticity, and she has garnered a slew of endorsements from unions and progressive organizations like the Teamsters and Emily’s List.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
One of the faces looked very similar, but when she looked more closely, the toenail polish didn't match.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
In a statement when the second delay was announced, Rockstar said it needed extra months to finish the game with the level of polish fans had come to "expect and deserve".
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
One person uses the chatbot to polish a résumé.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
Under some road maps in the glove compartment, Ben retrieved a rusty can of cordovan polish and a thin silken handkerchief spotted with dried circles of polish.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Born in Stuttgart to a Nigerian-British father and German mother with Polish roots, Jamal Musiala moved to England when he was seven and spent much of his childhood in the UK.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Last week a Polish news report said U.S. officials had warned Warsaw that Russia may attack the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Two coachloads of visitors arrived while AFP was visiting the village -- one of primary school children, the other of Polish tourists.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
"But that comes with different expectations," she says, explaining that Polish weddings are often expected to include a large celebration, endless food, an open bar and free accommodation.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
A flash of blue, and a Polish policeman runs by.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
One especially useful touch for travelers: the spa offers quick-drying traditional polishes, making it easier to get back to sightseeing without worrying about smudges.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
Commercial nail polishes were used to test additives for formula compatibility and electrical performance.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2026
The phrase is self-explanatory, but Ms. Farr is insistent, so in her reading the woman polishes silver “until it gleamed.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
Aspinall finishes the day with a large portion of steak, eggs and rice and polishes it off with a final protein shake.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2025
I start pulling open the cabinet drawers, frantically searching through all of Lily’s nail polishes and lip glosses until I find what I’m looking for.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
El-Sayed is not Platner; he’s been in electoral politics for nearly a decade and has a polished résumé.
From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2026
Then came artificial intelligence, which has made it easy for everyone to dash off a polished note on why they’re the best fit for the job — and do that repeatedly.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
After the Angels drafted Bremner with the second pick, the Seattle Mariners selected Anderson, an LSU product considered the most polished pitcher available.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Not the most polished dancer - she described her own moves as "galumphing" - she made it to the semi-final before being knocked out.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The table in front of us is a polished brown, which Danso has draped with a nice white cloth.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
If you want her to pay for the French polishing, you have an extra incentive to reopen this line of communication — and the wound.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
SpaceX, and the two big artificial-intelligence plays, Anthropic and OpenAI, are in various stages of polishing up their prospectuses and going public.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
The “To be, or not to be” monologue came across as a rhetorical set piece that Hamlet has been polishing for ages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2026
White, in comparing magazine writing to “finding an apple in an orchard and polishing it up and selling it on the street.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Candles flickered here and there in front of images of the saints; a faint and distant clatter came from the organ loft, where some repairs were going on; a servant was polishing the brass lectern.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
