{Polishing iron}, an iron burnisher; esp., a small smoothing
iron used in laundries.
{Polishing slate}.
(a) A gray or yellow slate, found in Bohemia and Auvergne,
and used for polishing glass, marble, and metals.
(b) A kind of hone or whetstone; hone slate.
{Polishing snake}, a tool used in cleaning lithographic
stones.
{Polishing wheel}, a wheel or disk coated with, or composed
of, abrading material, for polishing a surface.
2. Hence, to refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or
rusticity of; to make elegant and polite; as, to polish
life or manners. --Milton.
{To polish off}, to finish completely, as an adversary.
[Slang] --W. H. Russell.