polish

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verb

pol·ish ˈpä-lish

polished; polishing; polishes

Synonyms of polish next

transitive verb

: to make smooth and glossy usually by friction : burnish

: to smooth, soften, or refine in manners or condition

: 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

polish

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noun (1)

: a smooth glossy surface : luster

: freedom from rudeness or coarseness : culture

: a state of high development or refinement

: the action or process of polishing

: 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

Polish

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adjective

Pol·ish ˈpō-lish

: of, relating to, or characteristic of Poland, the Poles, or Polish

Polish

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Example Sentences

Verb He spent the summer polishing his math skills. you'll need to polish your shoes with a clean rag before the performance Noun (1) I need more shoe polish. Did you use a wax polish on the table or an oil-based one? The movie has the polish we've come to expect from that director. He's rude and lacks polish. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

There are also aluminum oxide crystals to gently polish the skin’s surface. —

Kiana Murden, Vogue, 22 Feb. 2023 The delay should give Infinity Ward, Raven Software and all the other studios working on these games time to polish the upcoming release—and hopefully avoid too many game-breaking bugs in the process. —

Erik Kain, Forbes, 27 Jan. 2023 About nine years ago, Chang would frequently take photos of herself to share with friends and family, and often found herself wishing there was a way for users to instantly polish their appearances. —

Michelle Toh, CNN, 8 Nov. 2022 In 2005, Erdogan chose cultural diplomacy to polish his international image by restoring a 10th century Armenian church. —

Simon Maghakyan, Time, 15 Dec. 2022 Sure, a couple of sketches felt a little eager to polish Musk’s public image, like a filmed segment that cast him as the mission commander of an effort to save a Martian colony running dangerously low on oxygen. —

Dave Itzkoff, New York Times, 9 May 2021 This dazzling beam of light heats a reactor with a core made of cerium oxide, an inexpensive compound often used to polish glass. —

Frank Swain, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2020 With Farrell tied up with his teaching duties at New York University, Kareken and Murrell worked with the director Silverman, dramaturge John Dias and the play’s stars to polish the script during rehearsals in the summer of 2018. —

Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2023 The erstwhile analysts stayed in college football at the highest level and gained a chance to polish a tarnished résumé. —

Dallas News, 3 Feb. 2022

Noun

Once a winner confirms that the information on their plaque is correct, the engraver drills on their personal plate, give Mr. Oscar a quick polish, and hand it back to them. —

Kelsey Mulvey, House Beautiful, 14 Mar. 2023 Apfel Glass recommends the Glosslab brand polish in OG Everyday or OG Cotton. —

Megan Decker, refinery29.com, 14 Mar. 2023 Today, the tradition of getting a quick polish from a rag-toting shoeshiner is greatly diminished, and many stands similar to the one in Penn Station have disappeared across the country. —

Mae Anderson, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2023 Now the peanut’s toothy grin, a nod to Carter’s famously wide smile, needed a polish. —

Mary Jordan, Washington Post, 21 Feb. 2023 Jin Soon is clearly on board, using black and dark red polish freely on Alice+Olivia and Brandon Maxwell models. —

ELLE, 17 Feb. 2023 Not to mention her dulce de leche nails that featured a rich cinnamon-nude polish. —

Nicola Dall'asen, Allure, 5 Feb. 2023 Overall, however, the researchers determined that that type of manicure — which involves applying a gel polish that must then set under UV lamps — had little to no association with cancer. —

Aria Bendix, NBC News, 24 Jan. 2023 The fair hue—an echo, or perhaps the same polish, donned for December’s Apple Music sit down—was thin enough to skew neutral but unexpected enough to further an existing statement. —

Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 10 Jan. 2023 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'polish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.