polishing

Noun
Synonyms: shining

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

  1. the work of making something smooth and shiny by rubbing or waxing it“the shining of shoes provided a meager living”“every Sunday he gave his car a good polishing”Synonyms: shining
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Polishing \Pol"ish*ing\, a. & n. from Polish. [1913 Webster]

Polishing iron, an iron burnisher; esp., a small smoothing iron used in laundries.

Polishing slate. (a) A gray or yellow slate, found in Bohemia and Auvergne, and used for polishing glass, marble, and metals. (b) A kind of hone or whetstone; hone slate.

Polishing snake, a tool used in cleaning lithographic stones.

Polishing wheel, a wheel or disk coated with, or composed of, abrading material, for polishing a surface. [1913 Webster]

Polish \Pol"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Polished; p. pr. & vb. n. Polishing.] [F. polir, L. polire. Cf. Polite, -ish]

1.To make smooth and glossy, usually by friction; to burnish; to overspread with luster; as, to polish glass, marble, metals, etc. [1913 Webster]

2.Hence, to refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite; as, to polish life or manners. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

To polish off, to finish completely, as an adversary. [Slang] --W. H. Russell. [1913 Webster]

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