verb
Meaning 1
To polish or burnish.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
furbish
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /ˈfɜːbɪʃ/
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US: /ˈfɝbɪʃ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: F ER1 B IH0 SH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To renovate or recondition; to refurbish.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
polish and make shiny
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- buff the wooden floors
- buff my shoes
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: buff, burnish
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: polish, smooth, smoothen, shine
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Frankish *furbēnbor. Old French forbirbor. Middle English furbisshen English furbish From Middle English furbisshen, from Old French forbir (stem furbiss-, “to clean, polish”), from Frankish *furbēn (“to clean, polish”).
Across languages
Translations
12 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: лъскам (lǎskam) — To polish or burnish
- Bulgarian: полирам (poliram) — To polish or burnish
- German: aufputzen — To polish or burnish
- German: aufpolieren — To polish or burnish
- German: blank polieren — To polish or burnish
- German: blank wienern — To polish or burnish
- Middle English: furbisshen — To polish or burnish
- Bulgarian: възстановявам (vǎzstanovjavam) — To renovate or recondition
- German: neu ausstatten — To renovate or recondition
- German: instand setzen — To renovate or recondition
- German: neu einrichten — To renovate or recondition
- German: renovieren — To renovate or recondition