polish

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

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

   He polished the chrome until it gleamed.

2. 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. 3
   noun

   A substance you rub onto something to make it shiny.

   A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.

4. 4
   noun

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

   The lecturer spoke with great polish.

Common collocations

• polish the floor Verb + noun

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.

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