POLISH • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Polish

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/pˈɑlɪʃ/ /pˈoʊlɪʃ/ Listen

adjective

Polish adj. Of or pertaining to Poland or its inhabitants.

noun

Polish n.

A smooth, glossy surface, usually produced by friction; a gloss or luster. "Another prism of clearer glass and better polish."

Anything used to produce a gloss.

Fig.: Refinement; elegance of manners. "This Roman polish and this smooth behavior."

Polish n. The language of the Poles.

verb

Polish v. t. (past & past part. polished; pres. part. polishing)

To make smooth and glossy, usually by friction; to burnish; to overspread with luster; as, to polish glass, marble, metals, etc.

Hence, to refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite; as, to polish life or manners.

To polish off, to finish completely, as an adversary. (Slang)

Polish v. i. To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface; as, steel polishes well.

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Etymology of 'Polish'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Polish" Quotes from Famous Books

... 215: The vair (vaiverge or wieworka in Polish) is a species of marten, often referred to in mediaeval works. Menu-vair ...

— The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela • Benjamin of Tudela

... part of the force in the island. He was high on the staff, our intercourse was renewed, and he was regarded as a very expert diplomatist. A few years after, I found him in a still higher situation, a favourite of De Choiseul, and managing the affairs of the Polish confederation. On his return to Paris, such was the credit in which he stood, that he was placed by the minister of war at the head of a commission to reform the military code; thus he has been always distinguished; and has ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV. • Various

... smiting effectually, with wrath excited, and armed with pikes and bows, and bright battle-axes, and with maces and clubs, and short arrows, and lances, and with shafts, and stout bludgeons mounted with iron spikes and swords, well-grasped of the brightest polish, ran hither and thither, O king, and seemed resolved to take one another's life. And the sabres of brave combatants rushing against one another steeped in human blood, seemed to shine brightly. And the whiz of swords whirled and made to descend by heroic arms and falling upon ...

— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli

... exclaimed thoughtfully. "Ah she kept me off—she kept me off! Her charming manner is in itself a kind of contempt. It's an abyss—it's the wall of China. She has a hard polish, an inimitable surface, like some wonderful porcelain that ...

— The Tragic Muse • Henry James

... stand for a week; then add a pound of dry lampblack, and three-quarters of a pound of copperas; stir it up at intervals for a couple of days. Lay five or six coats on the gun, &c., with a sponge, allowing it to dry well between each. Polish with linseed oil and soft woollen rag, and it ...

— Enquire Within Upon Everything - The Great Victorian Domestic Standby • Anonymous

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