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What is "polish"

Crossword clues for polish

polish
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
polish
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
clean/polish your shoes
▪ We used to clean our shoes every evening before we went to bed.
floor polish
▪ The room smelt of floor polish.
French polish
nail polish
▪ pink nail polish
paint/polish/varnish your nails (=to put coloured liquid on your nails)
▪ Don't paint short nails in dark colours.
polished
▪ I didn't want to spill anything on the polished surface of the table.
polish/shine to a high gloss
▪ The silverware had been polished to a high gloss.
shoe polish
the British/French/Polish etc army
▪ a soldier in the Spanish army
wax/polish the floor
▪ I washed and waxed the kitchen floor.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
highly
▪ Background graphics are highly polished and the sound compliments it well.
▪ Across the room, the glow from the fireplace flickered on the highly polished floor.
▪ Even the wires seemed to be highly polished.
▪ In front of his highly polished desk are two leather armchairs facing a matching leather couch.
▪ The original finish of highly polished golden brass soon deteriorated, but initially at least shone a bright yellow.
off
▪ But she made light work of polishing off the shopping at a supermarket near her West London home.
▪ Quinn ate with crude intensity, polishing off the meal in what seemed a matter of seconds.
▪ When I get home Mrs Marsh has polished off half the biscuits in the tin and the teapot is all but empty.
▪ After that we polish off the last of the half-gallon of whiskey.
▪ The boys declared it a feast compared with the week before and polished off their chocolate as a bonus.
▪ Before polishing off the last of the trail mix, Gray realized he was wrong.
▪ This invigorating start to the day ended with a cold shower, and by 0730 a substantial breakfast had been polished off.
▪ Night after night, she sat at her desk, hoping to polish off some quick, noncommittal little speech.
up
▪ Read in studio A sixteen year old busker from Oxford has polished up his act ... and won a national jazz competition.
▪ They polished up the opera house, and every summer stars from the Metropolitan came out and performed.
▪ Much later the method of dialectic clash was polished up by Hegel and adopted by Marx.
▪ The market has since done much to polish up its self-regulation, though it is still far from squeaky-clean.
▪ Prices perk up, trading volume revives and stories of return from the grave are polished up.
▪ But, like showbusiness, it may take a year before EuroDisney polishes up its act.
■ NOUN
floor
▪ After she had scrubbed the floor, she polished the furniture.
▪ The floor was polished to the consistency of Telly Savalas' head.
▪ The floor was sanded and polished.
furniture
▪ After she had scrubbed the floor, she polished the furniture.
▪ After she had polished the furniture, she cleaned the windows.
▪ Before she cleaned the windows, she polished the furniture.
▪ Before she polished the furniture, she scrubbed the floor.
▪ She could not sit down to talk, but kept moving around the room polishing doors and furniture although they already sparkled.
▪ Jeremiah was wearing his pin-stripes with the seat shiny from decades of polishing the council furniture with his bottom.
glass
▪ Theodora remained standing, polishing her reading glasses vigorously.
▪ Clinging to very fine cracks or imperfections is also out: geckos can cope with polished glass.
▪ A barman was polishing glasses with his back to Rain.
▪ He polished his pebble glasses on a handkerchief, a little diversion before he embarked on the full story.
nail
▪ He was a man of high good humor, well-pressed double-breasted suits, manicured nails, and glossily polished shoes.
▪ It was clean and the nails were polished a deep brown.
shoe
▪ When she arrived home she had found Larry polishing his shoes at the table.
▪ He soon got to know the young kids who eked a living by carrying luggage, polishing shoes or running errands.
▪ And she polished his shoes for him, whenever she got the chance.
▪ I helped her prepare for the date, pressing her nicest blouse, lending her my best necklace and polishing her shoes.
▪ I studied him in fascination as he polished his shoes each night after supper and inspected his suits for wrinkles and stains.
▪ I polished my shoes and no mistake that morning.
▪ He was an elderly man dressed in an ancient broadcloth suit and polished shoes.
surface
▪ The work can then be cleaned, polished bright and the surface protected with a final coating of clear lacquer.
▪ We make sure our staff is trained to polish every surface and clean every corner.
▪ All our staff receive training on effective ways to polish every surface and clean every corner.
▪ The sunlight glinted and sparkled from the polished metal surfaces of the slowly revolving, three-hundred-yard-diameter disk.
▪ In some places, friction along a fault plane has produced polished and striated surfaces.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
spit and polish
▪ A little spit and polish, and a pair of determined, busy hands.
▪ After the inevitable nil-nil draw it's back to the management section for some between-match spit and polish.
▪ She and Ellen between them had turned out the dining-room, giving it extra spit and polish because of Christmas.
the Polish
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a polished wooden floor
▪ Edward's essay is good, but he needs to polish it a little bit.
▪ He polished the piano until the wood shone.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ After she had polished the furniture, she cleaned the windows.
▪ Bill was leaning on his cab, spitting at the wing mirror and half-heartedly polishing it with his sleeve.
▪ Light polishes itself under the bushel.
▪ Sheila and I were responsible for polishing the brass and crystal chandelier that hung over the dining-room table.
▪ That it proves an undistinguished production can be polished in the right hands is illuminating.
▪ There was no pearl inside, though, nothing nearly so hard and polished.
▪ Tiny, polished black pollen beetles crawled over her hand: she had become part of their landscape.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
final
▪ Each gets a final polish with his cloth, and he grins into them as if they were mirrors.
▪ The main purpose of these pads is to give the water a final polish and continuous use is not really obligatory.
▪ The greenkeepers were already sweeping the dew off the greens with elongated poles - the final polish to an immaculately groomed course.
■ NOUN
boot
▪ He had cropped his hair and put boot polish on his face.
▪ I say surprising, because some are as digestible as boot polish while others are simply unwatchable.
▪ We cut a mask for my face out of a balaclava and made it black with boot polish.
▪ He must have put some Cherry Blossom boot polish on it.
floor
▪ Why should anyone discuss floor polish?
furniture
▪ Exotic scent mingled with the more religious smells of incense, furniture polish and veneration.
▪ I tried using some spray furniture polish, rubbed well in, on the areas that were jamming.
▪ Is it mothballs or furniture polish or tobacco or vapour rub?
▪ Rainbow may smell furniture polish, baby powder, simmering borscht.
nail
▪ A muscle near her right cheekbone fluttered at erratic intervals, and the nail polish was chipped.
▪ To remove melted plastic from an appliance, unplug appliance and dab off spot with nail polish remover.
▪ That nail polish was a positive match, and she's got some explaining to do.
▪ Parma and Jaivi, Hatti and Latchi called me over to their bed to try out the nail polishes.
▪ As well as keeping some nail polish remover at home, make sure you carry some handy remover of emergencies.
▪ Did I happen to have any nail polish with me?
▪ Even fashion products such as nail polish or lipstick, which do have regular changes of colour, can benefit greatly.
▪ Men are wearing nail polish, did you know?
shoe
▪ Missing were expensive black leather boots, the white shoe polish, a jumbo jar of Nivea.
▪ His face was a light brown, shoe polish mixed with wax.
▪ They also won't pay if you get any shoe polish on their socks.
▪ She smelled of leather and shoe polish.
▪ To age the look of the gourds, she buffs them with shoe polish.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ A good polish now and then will keep the table looking new.
▪ furniture polish
▪ shoe polish
▪ What this dance troupe lacks in polish, they make up for in enthusiasm.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A good polish reviver can be made by mixing equal parts of raw linseed oil, substitute turps and vinegar.
▪ Did I happen to have any nail polish with me?
▪ His face was a light brown, shoe polish mixed with wax.
▪ I wanted it to shine the windows and polish the tarnished feelings like a good spring house-cleaning.
▪ Not that any of this family into which Cara had chosen to marry had much polish.
▪ The polish on her fingernails neatly complemented the shade.
▪ The shoes I had on were white plastic trainers in need of polish.
▪ They were beginning to achieve astonishing economic success; and only their children would acquire a certain polish.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Polish

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.

Polish

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.

Polish

Polish \Pol"ish\, a. [From Pole a Polander.] Of or pertaining to Poland or its inhabitants. -- n. The language of the Poles.

Polish

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.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Polish

1670s, from Pole + -ish. Related: Polishness. Polish-American attested from 1898.

polish

early 14c., polischen "make smooth," from Old French poliss-, present participle stem of polir (12c.) "to polish, decorate, see to one's appearance," from Latin polire "to polish, make smooth; decorate, embellish;" figuratively "refine, improve," said to be from Proto-Indo-European *pel- "to thrust, strike, drive" (via the notion of fulling cloth). The sense of "free from coarseness, to refine" first recorded in English mid-14c. Related: Polished; polishing. Slang polish off "finish" is 1837, from notion of applying a coat of polish being the final step in a piece of work.

polish

1590s, "absence of coarseness," from polish (v.). From 1704 as "act of polishing;" 1819 as "substance used in polishing."

Wiktionary
polish

n. 1 A substance used to polish. 2 cleanliness; smoothness, shininess. 3 refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding. 2 (senseid en refine; improve imperfections from)(context transitive English) To refine; remove imperfections from. 3 (context transitive English) To apply shoe polish to shoes. 4 (context intransitive English) To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface. 5 (context transitive English) To refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite.

Related phrases:
WordNet
polish

  1. v. (of surfaces) make shine; "shine the silver, please"; "polish my shoes" [syn: smooth, smoothen, shine]

  2. improve or perfect by pruning or polishing; "refine one's style of writing" [syn: refine, fine-tune, down]

  3. bring to a highly developed, finished, or refined state; "polish your social manners" [syn: round, round off, polish up, brush up]

polish

  1. n. the property of being smooth and shiny [syn: 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: refinement, culture, cultivation, finish]

  3. a preparation used in polishing

  4. the Slavic language of Poland

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Polish

Polish may refer to:

  • Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
  • Polish language
  • Poles, people from Poland
  • Polish (chicken)
  • Polish cuisine
  • Polish space, in mathematics
  • Polish brothers (born 1970), American twin screenwriters

Polish may refer to:

  • Polishing, the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing or chemical action
  • Nail polish
  • Shoe polish
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "polish".

His faded, sky-blue military coat might have once graced a Polish officer of wide girth, but it now hung open to accommodate the broad chest of its present owner.

One of the stout Polish cleaners, friendly, mute, and virtually analphabetic in English, is emptying the trash can behind the bench.

He was inclined to sit there for a few minutes with his buttocks cupped in the luxuriously polished wooden annulus of the shite-hole, and to savor this triumph, just as the late Samuel Pepys had taught him to do in the case of urination.

Slanderers or impostors had persuaded this young coxcomb that Casimir, the King of Poland, whilst dwelling in Paris in the quality of a simple gentleman, had shown himself most assiduous to Madame Brisacier, and that he, Brisacier of France, was born of these assiduities of the Polish prince.

The sun shone down into the great north ballium of the castle of Nimmr, glinting from the polished mail of noble knights and from pike and battle-axe of men-at-arms, picking out the gay colon of the robes of the women gathered in the grandstand below the inner wall.

It became a limbless, barkless spear, polished smooth, hollow-tipped, rising above seas of opposing armies.

On the hill someone had lashed together a crucifix of branches, barkless and polished by the weather.

Besides the accustomed lights, two great wax tapers, called Christmas candles, wreathed with greens, were placed on a highly polished beaufet among the family plate.

Her little letter was very prettily turned, and Bernard, reading it over two or three times, said to himself that, to do her justice, she might very well have polished her intellect a trifle during these two or three years.

Brownings and 9mm Lahtis, Polish Radoms, Italian Berretta autos, and Glisenti revolvers, a few dozen Russian Nagant revolvers in poor shape, three different configurations of Spanish Astra pistols, some practically new 7.

Polish Post Office -- that cannot be -- then for the Post Office of the Federal Republic, and that, nearsighted but bespectacled, he is once more delivering happiness in the form of multicolored banknotes and hard coins.

These blocks of shadows on the polished wood, like the bodies themselves, remained immobile as the stunned faces attached to those bodies stared in astonishment at the gaunt, bespectacled man who stood behind the President in front of a portable blackboard on which he had drawn numerous diagrams using four different colours of chalk.

The Ktemnoi Sacred Squares were dressed in blue shirts and breeches, with brown boiled-leather jacks for the musketeers and polished steel breastplates for the billmen, set off by orange sashes.

The man was polished and his education was obvious, but at heart there was that brawler James had recognized at once.

Swearing, Breezy jerked her hand up to her face and Cori dove, her weight knocking Breezy backward and sending the gun across the polished teak floor, landing in the fringe of the oriental carpet.