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# polish

«polish» in Mova's school dictionary: **To rub something to make it smooth and shiny** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (polish, polishes); verb (polish, polishes, polished, polishing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (verb) To rub something to make it smooth and shiny. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#m1)

2) (noun) A cream, liquid or wax used to make things shiny: «shoe polish», «nail polish». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#m2)

3) (verb) To improve something to make it better: «polish your story». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#m3)

4) (noun) A smooth shine. Note: «Polish» with a capital P means from Poland. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#m4)

5) To polish off something is to finish it quickly, such as eating all of a meal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life: polishing shoes, furniture, silver; nail polish. In school writing, you polish a draft by checking spelling and making it better. Safety: polish and nail polish remover are chemicals — keep them away from small children and fire. Phrases: «shoe polish», «polish off» (finish quickly), «polish up».

### examples

- He polished his shoes until they shone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#x1)
- Mum put on red nail polish. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#x2)
- Polish the table with a soft cloth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#x3)
- Spend ten minutes polishing your story. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#x4)
- He polished off the whole pizza. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#x5)
- The old coin had a nice polish. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#x6)
- Keep nail polish remover away from little children. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#x7)
- You must have seen old Kerick polishing off a drove. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/#x8)

### note

Mostly uncountable. Trap: «polish» (shiny, said «POL-ish») vs «Polish» (from Poland, said «POH-lish»). «Polish off» means eat or finish fast.

### In the corpora

- [Example: a new boy in Glasgow speaks English with a Polish accent and does not know that you queue for lunch.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/226-compliments-and-respecting-differences/6/)
- [Oskar moved from Kraków to Dundee, and messages his cousins on WhatsApp in Polish and English, missing the summers they played together.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/510-cousins-like-a-sister-posh-or-far-away/13/)
- [A gemstone is a stone people cut and polish because it is beautiful, rare and hard enough to last.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/51-gemstones-and-precious-metals/0/)
- [His hands are as rods of gold set with beryl; his body is as polished ivory overlaid with sapphires.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/SNG.82/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «polish» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polish/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.