v. 1 shine, brighten, burnish, buff, furbish, wax, clean, smooth, rub, gloss He polished up the handles so carefully That now he is the ruler of the Queen's navy 2 Often, polish up. refine, improve, perfect, finish, cultivate, ameliorate, enhance; correct, emend If you polish up the article we might consider it for publication 3 polish off. a conclude, end, terminate, finish Ned polished off his homework in less than an hour b kill, slay, murder, dispatch or despatch, destroy, dispose of, do away with, liquidate, eliminate, Slang bump off, rub out, do in, take for a ride Three platoons were polished off quickly c dispose of, put away, eat, consume, wolf (down) In a few minutes, MacGregor had polished off the entire meal 4 polish up. study, review, learn, Archaic con, Colloq bone up (on), Slang Brit swot up (on) If you're going to M laga, you'd better polish up your Spanish
n. 5 gloss, shine, lustre, sheen, glaze, smoothness, brilliance, sparkle, gleam, glow, brightness, radiance You cannot imagine what a fine polish she put on that old table 6 wax, oil The new polish really put a shine on the desk