polish

adj

1. (not-comparable)Of, from or native to Poland, or relating to the Polish language.

   “Vinokur pulled the trigger a second and third time. "You're lying, you Polish cunt!" he screamed.”

   “As we mentioned the only chemical used in Polish meats or sausages was potassium nitrate even though the list of food additives allowed in Europe was long and impressive.”

   ““There’s a sense of betrayal,” said the former Hamtramck mayor Karen Majewski, who is Polish American.”

   “A far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament, disrupting proceedings before a planned vote of confidence in the new government.”

noun

1. (uncountable)The language spoken in Poland.

   “The big advantage of learning Russian is that, once you’re proficient, you can understand other Slav languages such as Czech, Polish or Bulgarian.”

2. (uncountable)A breed of chickens with a large crest of feathers.
3. (countable, uncountable)A substance used to polish.

   “A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.”

4. (countable, uncountable)Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.

   “The floor was waxed to a high polish.”

5. (countable, uncountable)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.”

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”

5. (transitive)To refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite.

   “Arts that polish Life.”

   “Educated at private schools and polished at Cambridge”