Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Polish

Pol′ish (pōl′ĭsh), a. [From Pole a Polander.] Of or pertaining to Poland or its inhabitants. - - n. The language of the Poles.

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.

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.

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

Pol′ish, v. i. To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface; as, steel polishes well. Bacon.

Pol′ish, n. 1. A smooth, glossy surface, usually produced by friction; a gloss or luster.

Another prism of clearer glass and better polish. Sir I. Newton.

2. Anything used to produce a gloss.

3. Fig.: Refinement; elegance of manners.

This Roman polish and this smooth behavior. Addison.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.