polish

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈpoʊlɪʃ/ UK /ˈpəʊlɪʃ/ See IPA manual

Freq #4048

Meanings

1

verb
To rub the surface of something to make it smooth and shiny.

He polished the chrome until it gleamed.
2

verb
To improve something by making small changes until it is as good as it can be.

She spent the weekend polishing her presentation.
3

noun
A substance you rub onto something to make it shiny.

A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.
4

noun
A high level of skill, style, or refinement in performance.

The lecturer spoke with great polish.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to rub the surface of... buff shine wax

3 noun · a substance you rub onto... wax

4 noun · a high level of skill,... refinement elegance

More hone perfect refine

Word family

Forms polishespolishing

Derived forms apple-polishdepolishelectropolishexpolishinterpolishmicropolishnanopolishoverpolishpiano-polishpolishabilitypolishablepolished

Related forms polissoirpolite

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

polish the floor
buff the floor surface to make it smooth and shiny

Verb + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

You can't polish a turd

Etymology

From Middle English polishen, from Old French poliss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of polir, from Latin polīre (“to polish, make smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to drive, strike, thrust”), from the notion of fulling cloth.

*pel- (beat) Proto-Indo-European polishen Middle English polio Latin *pelh₂- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# polish

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpoʊlɪʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpəʊlɪʃ/
**Frequency rank:** 4048

## Meanings
1. To rub the surface of something to make it smooth and shiny.
2. To improve something by making small changes until it is as good as it can be.
3. A substance you rub onto something to make it shiny.
4. A high level of skill, style, or refinement in performance.

## Examples
- He polished the chrome until it gleamed.
- She spent the weekend polishing her presentation.
- A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.
- The lecturer spoke with great polish.

## Synonyms
- hone
- perfect
- refine

## Derived Forms
- apple-polish
- depolish
- electropolish
- expolish
- interpolish
- micropolish
- nanopolish
- overpolish
- piano-polish
- polishability
- polishable
- polished

## Related Forms
- polissoir
- polite

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *pel- (beat)
- Root: polishen
- Root: polio
- Root: *pelh₂-

## Etymology
From Middle English polishen, from Old French poliss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of polir, from Latin polīre (“to polish, make smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to drive, strike, thrust”), from the notion of fulling cloth.

## AI Etymology
Polish comes from Middle English polishen, from Old French poliss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of polir, from Latin polīre (“to polish, make smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to drive, strike, thrust”), from the notion of fulling cloth. In present-day English it covers to rub the surface of something to make it smooth and shiny, to improve something by making small changes until it is as good as it can be, and a substance you rub onto something to make it shiny. The wider family includes derived forms such as apple-polish, depolish, electropolish, expolish, interpolish and related forms such as polissoir, polite.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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