polish

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.

noun

1. A substance used to polish.
   A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.
2. Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.
   The floor was waxed to a high polish.
3. Refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation.
   The lecturer showed a lot of polish at his last talk.

verb

1. (transitive) To shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding.
   He polished up the chrome until it gleamed.
2. (transitive) To refine; remove imperfections from.
   The band has polished its performance since the last concert.
   Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it. 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
3. (transitive) To apply shoe polish to shoes.
4. (intransitive) To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface.
   Steel polishes well.
   The other [gold], whether it will polish so well Wherein for the latter [brass] it is probable it will a. 1626, Francis Bacon, Inquisitions touching the compounding of metals
5. (transitive) To refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite.