Adjacent Words

Burnish definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BURN'ISH, v.t. To polish by friction; to make smooth, bright and glossy; as, to burnish steel.
BURN'ISH, v.i. To grow bright or glossy.
BURN'ISH, n. Gloss; brightness; luster.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the property of being smooth and shiny [syn: polish, gloss, glossiness, burnish] v
1: polish and make shiny; "buff the wooden floors"; "buff my shoes" [syn: buff, burnish, furbish]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English burnischen, from Anglo-French burniss-, stem of burnir, alteration of Old French brunir, literally, to make brown, from brun Date: 14th century 1. a. to make shiny or lustrous especially by rubbing b. polish 3 2. to rub (a material) with a tool for compacting or smoothing or for turning an edge • burnisher noun • burnishing adjective or noun II. noun Date: circa 1647 luster, gloss

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. polish by rubbing. Derivatives: burnisher n. Etymology: ME f. OF burnir = brunir f. brun BROWN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Burnish Bur"nish, v. i. To shine forth; to brighten; to become smooth and glossy, as from swelling or filling out; hence, to grow large. A slender poet must have time to grow, And spread and burnish as his brothers do. --Dryden. My thoughts began to burnish, sprout, and swell. --Herbert.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Burnish Bur"nish, n. The effect of burnishing; gloss; brightness; luster. --Crashaw.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Burnish Bur"nish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Burnished; p. pr. & vb. n. Burnishing.] [OE. burnischen, burnissen, burnen, OF. burnir, brunir, to make brown, polish, F. brunir, fr. F. brun brown, fr. OHG. br?n; cf. MHG. briunen to make brown, polish. See Brown, a.] To cause to shine; to make smooth and bright; to polish; specifically, to polish by rubbing with something hard and smooth; as, to burnish brass or paper. The frame of burnished steel, that east a glare From far, and seemed to thaw the freezing air. --Dryden. Now the village windows blaze, Burnished by the setting sun. --Cunningham. Burnishing machine, a machine for smoothing and polishing by compression, as in making paper collars.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(burnishes, burnishing, burnished) To burnish the image of someone or something means to improve their image. (WRITTEN) The European Parliament badly needs a president who can burnish its image. = improve VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Polish, furbish, brighten, make bright, make glossy, make glisten or glistening.

Moby Thesaurus

buff, dress, finish, furbish, glance, glaze, gloss, luster, polish, rub, rub up, sand, sandblast, sandpaper, scour, shine, sleek, slick, slick down, smooth, varnish, wax