polish sth up
— phrasal verb with polish uk/ˈpɒl.ɪʃ/us/ˈpɑː.lɪʃ/verb [ T ]
(OBJECT)
to rub or brush an object to make it shine, especially a metal or wooden object:
Robert was polishing up some old silver candlesticks.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Polishing & polishes
- beeswax
- buff
- burnish
- dubbin
- finish
- French polish
- polish
- polished
- rosin
- rub
- rub sth down
- shine
(SKILL)
to improve a skill, especially when you have allowed it to become less good over a period of time:
I really must polish up my Japanese before we visit Japan next year.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Making things better
- a shot in the arm idiom
- add salt to sth idiom
- allay
- alleviate
- ameliorate
- heal
- make sb/sth over
- mitigate
- mollify
- more
- palliate
- redeem
- relieve
- salve
- spice sth up
- sting
- straighten
- straighten sb out
- streamline
- sugar-coated
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