polish
A substance used to polish.
Noun 3 meanings
A substance used to polish.
“A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.”
Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.
“The floor was waxed to a high polish.”
Refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation.
“The lecturer showed a lot of polish at his last talk.”
Verb 4 meanings
To shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding.
“He polished up the chrome until it gleamed.”
To refine; remove imperfections from.
“The band has polished its performance since the last concert.”
To apply shoe polish to shoes.
To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface.
“Steel polishes well.”
Etymology
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.
Similar and opposite words
POLISH at a glance
POLISH has 6 letters and scores 11 points in Scrabble (P 3 + O 1 + L 1 + I 1 + S 1 + H 4) and 12 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #4,317 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with polish
All rhymesOne letter away
- POPISH13
- PALISH11
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