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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

polish

/ˈpɑ.lɪʃ/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:57
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What does polish mean?

noun

  1. A substance used to polish.
  2. Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.
  3. Refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation.
More meanings (8)

verb

  1. To shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding.
  2. To refine; remove imperfections from.
  3. To apply shoe polish to shoes.
  4. To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface.
  5. To refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite.

adjective

  1. Of, from or native to Poland, or relating to the Polish language.

noun

  1. The language spoken in Poland.
  2. A breed of chickens with a large crest of feathers.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈpɑ.lɪʃ/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ˈpoʊlɪʃ/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Your plate was stowed away among the neighbouring cesspools, and evil communications corrupted its good polish in a day or two.
Charles DickensA Tale of Two CitiesProject Gutenberg ebook #98
And other diamonds also men find in the isle of Cyprus, that be yet more tender, and them men may well polish.
John, Sir MandevilleThe Travels of Sir John MandevilleProject Gutenberg ebook #782
More book examples (3)
This transcends both the efficiency which consists in supplying products to others and the culture which is an exclusive refinement and polish.
John DeweyDemocracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of EducationProject Gutenberg ebook #852
At that time while with his regiment in Poland, a Polish landowner of small means had forced him to marry his daughter.
Leo, graf TolstoyWar and PeaceTranslated by Aylmer Maude; Louise MaudeProject Gutenberg ebook #2600
By turns greeting and greeted with a clash of jaws, the female leaves her gallery and begins impassively to polish her wings.
Jean-Henri FabreBramble-Bees and OthersTranslated by Alexander Teixeira de MattosProject Gutenberg ebook #3421