I. pol ‧ ish 1 /ˈpɒlɪʃ $ ˈpɑː-/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: polir , from Latin polire ]
1 . to make something smooth, bright, and shiny by rubbing it:
I spent all afternoon polishing the silver.
polish something with something
Polish the lenses with a piece of tissue.
2 . to improve a piece of writing, a speech etc by making slight changes to it before it is completely finished:
Your essay is good, you just need to polish it a bit.
—polishing noun [uncountable]
polish somebody/something ↔ off phrasal verb informal
a) to finish food, work etc quickly or easily:
Sam polished off the rest of the pizza.
b) American English to kill or defeat a person or animal when they are weak or wounded:
He was polished off with a shotgun blast to the face.
polish something ↔ up phrasal verb
1 . ( also polish up on something ) to improve a skill or an ability by practising it:
You should polish up your Spanish before you go to Chile.
2 . to make something seem better or more attractive to other people:
The company needs to polish up its image.
3 . to polish something
II. polish 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . [uncountable and countable] a liquid, powder, or other substance that you rub into a surface to make it smooth and shiny
furniture/shoe/floor etc polish ⇨ ↑ French polish
2 . [singular] especially British English an act of polishing a surface to make it smooth and shiny:
An occasional polish will keep wall tiles looking good.
3 . [uncountable] a high level of skill or style in the way someone performs, writes, or behaves:
Carla’s writing has potential, but it lacks polish.
4 . [singular] the smooth shiny appearance of something produced by polishing
⇨ spit and polish at ↑ spit 2 (5)