1. vt. & vi.（使）光滑，擦亮　 make or become smooth and shiny by rubbing with or without a chemical substance
2. vt.文饰　 improve in behaviour, intellectual interests, etc.

　～ arms　擦枪
　～ car　擦车
　～ desk　擦桌子
　～ one's French　提高自己的法语水平
　～ furniture　擦家具
　～ shoe　擦鞋
　～ highly　非常好地文饰
　～ industriously　勤劳地擦亮
　～ painstakingly　辛劳地擦亮
　～ splendidly　极好地文饰
　～ superficially　表面上擦亮
　～ vigorously　有活力地文饰
　～ off　吃完；干完
　～ off one's work　匆匆做完自己的工作
　～ up　改善；提高
　～ with　用…擦亮

　The wood won't polish.　这种木材无法磨光。
　Silver polishes easily.　银器皿容易擦亮。
　Leather shoes need polishing with good quality wax.　擦皮鞋需要用优质光蜡。
　He has polished his shoes.　他已擦亮了鞋。
　You had better polish your shoes with a brush.　你最好用刷子刷刷鞋。
　Polish the desk before you begin to study.　学习之前把桌子擦一擦。
　Would you please polish my article right now?　您现在把我的文章润色一下好吗?
　The speaker spent several days polishing her lecture.　那位发言者用了好几天时间润饰她的讲稿。
　The blackboard was polished clearly before the lecture began.　上课前黑板擦得干干净净。
　The essay is well polished.　这篇散文文笔优美。
　They polished the floor smooth.　他们把地板磨得光滑。

 ♣ polish off　(v.+adv.)
1. 吃完；干完 finish sth
　He polished off a whole roast duck in ten minutes.　他十分钟就吃光了一只烤鸭。
　The hungry boys polished off a plateful of ham and then asked for more.　饥饿的孩子很快就吃完了一盘火腿，然后又要了一些。
　After the contest we were all so hungry that we polished off the lunch in only a few minutes.　比赛后我们大家都很饿，几分钟就把饭吃光了。
　Having polished off a slice or two of bread, she started work again.　她匆匆吃了一两片面包，又开始工作了。
　We can soon polish off that job.　我们能很快干完那工作。
　She had to polish off her work before going home.　回家前她必须快把工作做完。
　Do you think you can polish off these sheets of typing before four o'clock?　你认为在四点钟以前能把这几页都打完吗?
　Mary polished off her homework early so that she could watch TV.　玛丽为了能看电视，很早便匆匆做完了家庭作业。
　The cream buns and sausage rolls were polished off in nest to no time.　转眼之间，奶油面包和腊肠卷就被一扫而光。
2. 击倒；除掉 knock out; get rid of or kill
　The boxer polished off his opponent in the first round.　拳击手在第一个回合就把他的对手击倒了。
　The villain of the novel is polished off in the last chapter but one.　小说中的那个坏蛋在书中倒数第二章就被干掉了。
 ♣ polish up　(v.+adv.)
1. 改善；提高 get into better condition; improve
　Our sales technique needs polishing up.　我们的销售技术需要提高。
　I'm going to New York, so I must polish up my English.　我要去纽约，因此我必须提高英语水平。
　In his spare time he did all he could to polish up his German.　他在业余时间努力进修德语。
　I advise you to polish up your article once more before you send it to the editor.　我劝你在把文章送交编辑以前再润色一下。
　The matter in the easy is satisfactory, but the style needs to be polished up.　这篇文章的内容不错，但还需要润色一下。
2. 擦亮 burnish; become bright and clean with polishing
　He polished up the handle of the big front door.　他把大门的把手擦亮了。
　Jim has a supply of old pennies which he polishes up and passes off to foreign tourists as rare coins.　吉姆有许多旧硬币，他把它们擦了一下，冒充稀有的古钱币，以此骗外国旅游者。
　The silver will need to be polished up for the dinner party.　为了宴会，这些银器皿需要擦得光亮。
　These old pieces of brass have been polished up beautifully.　这几件古铜器已被擦得光亮夺目。

1. U 光泽剂，上光蜡，亮漆　a liquid powder
2. S 光亮，光滑　a smooth shiny surface produced by rubbing
3. S 擦亮，磨光　an act of polishing
4. U 优美，高雅，完善　the quality of being polished

　apply ～　涂上光泽剂
　give a ～　擦一擦
　spoil the ～　毁坏光泽
　good ～　擦得很亮
　quick ～　迅速地擦
　considerable ～　很有修养
　liquid ～　上光剂
　metal ～　金属光亮剂
　nail ～　指甲油

　The polish is rubbed off.　上光蜡被擦掉了。
　Use brown polish on these shoes.　用棕色的鞋油擦这双鞋。
　A hot plate will spoil the table's polish.　热盘子会弄坏桌面的光泽。
　These shoes need a polish!　这些鞋子需要擦亮。
　His writing has potential but lacks polish.　他的写作很有潜力，但是不够优美。
　Four years of college gave her considerable polish.　四年的大学生活使她变得很有修养。

 ♣ polish, luster, sheen
　这三个词都可指“光亮，光泽”。polish指经摩擦或用过光亮剂等而形成的光泽；luster指反光所映射出来的光亮；sheen则指较稳定的光亮或光泽。

　［同义词］ n. luster, sheen