Definition of "polish"

polish

/ˈpɒl.ɪʃ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural polishes
1. A substance used to polish.
2. Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.
3. Refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation.
verb
third-person singular simple present polishes, present participle polishing, simple past and past participle polished
1. (transitive) To shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding.
2. (transitive) To refine; remove imperfections from.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  Arts that polish Life.
  1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,