Burnish

Quick meaning: Burnish is a verb meaning To make (something, such as a surface) bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; to polish, to shine.

Meaning

To make (something, such as a surface) bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; to polish, to shine.

More Meanings

1. Of a stag: to remove the velvet (“skin and fine fur”) from (its antlers) by rubbing them against something; to velvet.
2. To make (someone or something) appear positive and highly respected.
3. To become bright, glossy, and smooth; to brighten, to gleam, to shine forth.
4. A shine of something which has been polished; a lustre, a polish.
5. A shiny layer applied to a surface or other thing.
6. Of a person's body: to grow large or stout; to fatten, to fill out.
7. (uncountable) The making of something bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; (countable) an instance of this; a burnishing, a polishing, a shining.

Example Sentences

Novv the village vvindovvs blaze, / Burniſh'd by the ſetting ſun.

So forth he came all in a cote of plate, / Burniſht vvith bloudie ruſt; […]

Lyke as the larke, vpon the somers day, / Whan Titan radiant burnisshith his bemis bryght, […]

In pottery, a stone is sometimes used to burnish a pot before firing, giving it a smooth, shiny look.

Word Forms

• burnishes
• burnishing
• burnished
• burnisht
• burnishest
• burnishedst
• burnisheth

Synonyms for burnish

Depending on context, synonyms include buff, furbish, rub, flush, gloss, polish.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include furbish, glossiness, gloss, buff, flush, polish.

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