polishing

Pluralpolishings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of polish.

   The jeweler is polishing a ring to a mirror finish.

   Volunteers spent the afternoon polishing the brass railings at the museum.

   Note

   One -ing form doing two jobs. After be it builds the progressive (she is polishing the silver), and on its own it names the activity as a gerund (polishing takes patience). It carries every sense of the verb, from shining brass to refining a speech. It can also be intransitive, of a surface that takes a gloss. Capitalized, Polish is a different word, the adjective for Poland. This form belongs only to the lowercase verb.

2. 2
   noununcountablenoun from verb

   Verbal noun of polish: the action of polishing something.

   The careful polishing of each gemstone brought out its color.

   Frequent polishing wears down the thin layer of gold plating.

   Note

   The noun behaves like any other noun, and that is how to tell it from the gerund. It takes the and adjectives, and its object arrives with of (the careful polishing of each stone). The gerund takes its object directly (carefully polishing each stone). The noun can also be counted: a final polishing, repeated polishings. Keep it apart from polish itself, which names the substance or the shine that results.

3. 3
   adjective

   Causing a surface to become shiny or smooth.

   The workshop applied a fine polishing compound to the brass fittings.

   A polishing wheel spun against the blade until it gleamed.

4. 4
   adjective

   Serving to refine or improve something.

   The editor's polishing pass tightened the prose and refined its tone.

   A polishing rehearsal helped the actors sharpen their timing.

5. 5
   nounusually plural

   A substance extracted from rice that has been only partially milled.

   The mill bagged its polishing separately to sell to feed producers.

   Nutritionists once recommended rice polishing as a cheap source of thiamine.

   Note

   A miller's word that is usually met in the plural: rice polishings, bagged and sold on. The singular does occur, but the plural is the expected form, in the same way as shavings or sweepings, which also name the material that comes away in a process. Pair it with rice when the context does not already make the grain clear.

Showing meanings only. Show all 5