Burnish

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Burnish \Bur"nish\, v. i.
     To shine forth; to brighten; to become smooth and glossy, as
     from swelling or filling out; hence, to grow large.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           A slender poet must have time to grow,


           And spread and burnish as his brothers do. --Dryden.
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           My thoughts began to burnish, sprout, and swell.
                                                    --Herbert.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Burnish \Bur"nish\, n.
     The effect of burnishing; gloss; brightness; luster.
     --Crashaw.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Burnish \Bur"nish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Burnished}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Burnishing}.] [OE. burnischen, burnissen, burnen, OF.
     burnir, brunir, to make brown, polish, F. brunir, fr. F. brun
     brown, fr. OHG. br?n; cf. MHG. briunen to make brown, polish.
     See {Brown}, a.]
     To cause to shine; to make smooth and bright; to polish;
     specifically, to polish by rubbing with something hard and
     smooth; as, to burnish brass or paper.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           The frame of burnished steel, that east a glare
           From far, and seemed to thaw the freezing air.
                                                    --Dryden.
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           Now the village windows blaze,
           Burnished by the setting sun.            --Cunningham.
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     {Burnishing machine}, a machine for smoothing and polishing
        by compression, as in making paper collars.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  burnish
       n : the property of being smooth and shiny [syn: {polish}, {gloss},
            {glossiness}]
       v : polish and make shiny; "buff the wooden floors"; "buff my
           shoes" [syn: {buff}, {furbish}, {flush}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  22 Moby Thesaurus words for "burnish":
     buff, dress, finish, furbish, glance, glaze, gloss, luster, polish,
     rub, rub up, sand, sandblast, sandpaper, scour, shine, sleek,
     slick, slick down, smooth, varnish, wax