1. To make the surface of something smooth and lustrous by rubbing it: Timothy and Gregory polished their shoes before going to the dance.

Mike and his sister were polishing the silverware in preparation for the family banquet for the following day.

2. To refine, to improve, or to add the finishing touches to something by making it better: Joe's son needs to polish up his German before he takes his exam in school in the ensuing week.

The musical group polished up some new songs in preparation for the performance that was coming soon.

3. Etymology: from Old French poliss- and polir-, "to polish, to decorate"; from Latin polio, "to make smooth, to decorate, to embellish"; figuratively, "to refine, to improve".

1. Polishing a prosthesis by electroplating, that is, by adding metal, as opposed to the normal method of polishing, which removes metal, until the surface is flat.
2. The process whereby a metallic material is polished anodically (with positive electrodes or poles to which negative ions are attracted) in an electrolytic cell and it is often used on curved parts which can not be polished by normal mechanical procedures.
3. Smoothing and enhancing the appearance of a metal surface by making it an anode in a suitable electrolyte.
4. A method of polishing metal surfaces by applying an electric current through an electrolytic bath in a process that is the reverse of plating.

The metal to be polished is made the anode in an electric circuit.

The anodic dissolution of bumpy burrs and sharp edges occurs at a faster rate than over the flat surfaces and crevices, possibly because of locally higher current densities.

Such electrolytic polishing results in a superior flat, smooth, and brilliant surface.