POLISH DEFINITIONS - 20 definitions found
Polish adj 1: of or relating to Poland or its people or culture; "Polish sausage" n 1: the property of being smooth and shiny [syn: polish, gloss, glossiness, burnish] 2: a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality; "they performed with great polish"; "I admired the exquisite refinement of his prose"; "almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art"--Joseph Conrad [syn: polish, refinement, culture, cultivation, finish] 3: a preparation used in polishing 4: the Slavic language of Poland v 1: make (a surface) shine; "shine the silver, please"; "polish my shoes" [syn: polish, smooth, smoothen, shine] 2: improve or perfect by pruning or polishing; "refine one's style of writing" [syn: polish, refine, fine-tune, down] 3: bring to a highly developed, finished, or refined state; "polish your social manners" [syn: polish, round, round off}, polish up, brush up] polish - fecida polish philos pholis Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) Polish I. adjective Etymology: Pole Date: 1592 of, relating to, or characteristic of Poland, the Poles, or Polish II. noun Date: 1671 the Slavic language of the Poles Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) polish I. verb Etymology: Middle English polisshen, from Anglo-French poliss-, stem of polir, from Latin polire Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to make smooth and glossy usually by friction ; burnish 2. to smooth, soften, or refine in manners or condition 3. to bring to a highly developed, finished, or refined state ; perfect intransitive verb to become smooth or glossy by or as if by friction • polisher noun II. noun Date: 1679 1. a. a smooth glossy surface ; luster b. freedom from rudeness or coarseness ; culture c. a state of high development or refinement 2. the action or process of polishing 3. a preparation that is used to produce a gloss and often a color for the protection and decoration of a surface <furniture polish> <nail polish> Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary polish (polishes, polishing, polished) 1. Polish is a substance that you put on the surface of an object in order to clean it, protect it, and make it shine. The still air smelt faintly of furniture polish. ...soap powders, detergents, and polishes. N-MASS 2. If you polish something, you put polish on it or rub it with a cloth to make it shine. Each morning he shaved and polished his shoes... VERB: V n • Polish is also a noun. He gave his counter a polish with a soft duster. N-SING: a N • polished ...a highly polished floor. ADJ 3. If you say that someone has polish, you mean that they show confidence and know how to behave socially. N-UNCOUNT [approval] 4. If you say that a performance or piece of work has polish, you mean that it is of a very high standard. The opera lacks the polish of his later work. N-UNCOUNT [approval] 5. If you polish your technique, performance, or skill at doing something, you work on improving it. They just need to polish their technique. VERB: V n • Polish up means the same as polish. Polish up your writing skills on a one-week professional course. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron) 6. see also polished, French polish, nail polish Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary Polish 1. Polish means belonging or relating to Poland, or to its people, language, or culture. ADJ 2. Polish is the language spoken in Poland. N-UNCOUNT English Explanatory Dictionary Polish ˈpəulɪʃ adj. & n. --adj. 1 of or relating to Poland. 2 of the Poles or their language. --n. the language of Poland. øPolish notation Math. a system of formula notation without brackets and punctuation. [POLE + -ISH(1)] English Explanatory Dictionary polish ˈpɔlɪʃ v. & n. --v. 1 tr. & intr. make or become smooth or glossy by rubbing. 2 (esp. as polished adj.) refine or improve; add finishing touches to. --n. 1 a substance used for polishing. 2 smoothness or glossiness produced by friction. 3 the act or an instance of polishing. 4 refinement or elegance of manner, conduct, etc. øpolish off finish (esp. food) quickly. polish up revise or improve (a skill etc.). øøpolishable adj. polisher n. [ME f. OF polir f. L polire polit-] 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue POLISH To polish the king's iron with one's eyebrows; to be in gaol, and look through the iron grated windows. To polish a bone; to eat a meal. Come and polish a bone with me; come and eat a dinner or supper with me. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Polish \Pol"ish\, a. [From Pole a Polander.] Of or pertaining to Poland or its inhabitants. -- n. The language of the Poles. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Polish \Pol"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Polished; p. pr. & vb. n. Polishing.] [F. polir, L. polire. Cf. Polite, -ish] 1. To make smooth and glossy, usually by friction; to burnish; to overspread with luster; as, to polish glass, marble, metals, etc. 2. Hence, to refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite; as, to polish life or manners. --Milton. To polish off, to finish completely, as an adversary. [Slang] --W. H. Russell. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Polish \Pol"ish\, v. i. To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface; as, steel polishes well. --Bacon. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Polish \Pol"ish\, n. 1. A smooth, glossy surface, usually produced by friction; a gloss or luster. Another prism of clearer glass and better polish. --Sir I. Newton. 2. Anything used to produce a gloss. 3. Fig.: Refinement; elegance of manners. This Roman polish and this smooth behavior. --Addison. Soule\'s Dictionary of English Synonyms polish I. v. a. 1. Burnish, furbish, levigate, rub up, brighten, make glossy. 2. Refine, civilize, make elegant. II. n. 1. Lustre, brightness, brilliance, brilliancy, splendor. 2. Grace, refinement, accomplishment, elegance. English Explanatory Dictionary (Synonyms) polish ˈpɔlɪʃ v. 1 shine, brighten, burnish, buff, furbish, wax, clean, smooth, rub, gloss: He polished up the handles so carefully That now he is the ruler of the Queen's navy. 2 Often, polish up. refine, improve, perfect, finish, cultivate, ameliorate, enhance; correct, emend: If you polish up the article we might consider it for publication. 3 polish off. a conclude, end, terminate, finish: Ned polished off his homework in less than an hour. b kill, slay, murder, dispatch or despatch, destroy, dispose of, do away with, liquidate, eliminate, Slang bump off, rub out, do in, take for a ride: Three platoons were polished off quickly. c dispose of, put away, eat, consume, wolf (down): In a few minutes, MacGregor had polished off the entire meal. 4 polish up. study, review, learn, Archaic con, Colloq bone up (on), Slang Brit swot up (on): If you're going to MÁlaga, you'd better polish up your Spanish. --n. 5 gloss, shine, lustre, sheen, glaze, smoothness, brilliance, sparkle, gleam, glow, brightness, radiance: You cannot imagine what a fine polish she put on that old table. 6 wax, oil: The new polish really put a shine on the desk. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 202 Moby Thesaurus words for "polish": Atticism, abradant, abrasive, acculturation, acquired taste, aluminum oxide, ameliorate, appreciation of excellence, appropriateness, auto polish, beautify, better, breeding, brighten, brighten up, brightness, brilliance, brush up, buff, bump off, burnish, chasteness, chastity, choiceness, civility, civilization, civilized taste, civilizedness, clarity, classicalism, classicism, clean, clearness, colcothar, comeliness, con, conclude, consume, correct, correctness, corundum, crocus, cultivate, cultivated taste, cultivation, culture, daintiness, delicacy, destroy, develop, dignity, directness, discrimination, dispatch, dispose of, distinction, do away with, do in, dress, ease, eat, education, elaborate, elegance, elegancy, eliminate, embellish, emend, emery, emery board, emery paper, enculturation, end, enhance, enlightenment, evolve, excellence, fastidiousness, felicitousness, felicity, file, finesse, finish, fittingness, fix, flow, flowing periods, fluency, freshen, furbish, furbish up, garnet, genteelness, gentility, gentlemanlikeness, gentlemanliness, gentleness, glance, glaze, gleam, glint, gloss, glow, good breeding, good taste, grace, gracefulness, gracility, graciosity, graciousness, improve, kill, ladylikeness, lawn-roller, learn, limpidity, liquidate, lucidity, luster, mature, mend, murder, nail file, naturalness, neatness, niceness, nicety, oil, patina, pellucidity, perfect, perspicuity, plainness, polish off, polish up, polishes, propriety, pumice, pumice stone, purity, put away, quality, radiance, rasp, refine, refinement, renovate, repair, restraint, retouch, review, revive, ripen, roller, rottenstone, rouge, round, rub, rub out, rub up, sand, sandblast, sandpaper, scour, scrub, season, seemliness, sheen, shine, shoe polish, silicon carbide, silver polish, simplicity, slay, sleek, sleeker, slick, slick down, slicker, smooth, smoother, smoothness, socialization, sophistication, sparkle, spruce, spruce up, straightforwardness, study, subtlety, taste, tastefulness, terminate, terseness, tone up, touch up, unaffectedness, vamp, vamp up, varnish, wax, wolf down |
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