polish

views updated Jun 11 2018

pol·ish / ˈpälish/ • v. [tr.] make the surface of (something) smooth and shiny by rubbing it: she unloaded the dishwasher and polished the glasses. ∎  improve, refine, or add the finishing touches to: he's got to polish up his French for his job.• n. a substance used to give something a smooth and shiny surface when rubbed in: furniture polish. ∎  [in sing.] an act of rubbing something to give it a shiny surface: I could give the cabinet a polish. ∎  smoothness or glossiness produced by rubbing or friction: the machine refines the shape of the stone and gives it polish. ∎  refinement or elegance in a person or thing: his poetry has clarity and polish.PHRASAL VERBS: polish something off finish or consume something quickly: they polished off most of the sausages.DERIVATIVES: pol·ish·a·ble adj.pol·ish·er n.

Polish

views updated May 11 2018

Pol·ish / ˈpōlish/ • adj. of or relating to Poland, its inhabitants, or their language.• n. the West Slavic language of Poland.

Polish

views updated Jun 11 2018

Polish National language of Poland, spoken by virtually all of the country's 39 million people. It belongs to the Slavonic family of Indo-European languages. Polish is written in the Roman (Latin) alphabet, but with a large number of diacritical marks to represent the various Slavonic vowels and consonants.

polish

views updated May 29 2018

polish make smooth (and glossy) by friction XIII; refine XIV. ME. polis(s) -poliss-, lengthened stem of (O)F. polir — L. polīre; see -ISH2.
Hence sb. XVI.

Polish

views updated May 21 2018

Polish see POLE.