burnish

verb

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

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

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

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

   “Fire Renovates and Burniſheth the Mine, / The Spirit of VVisdom, makes the Face to ſhine: / Fire elevates, inclines things to Aſcend, / The Spirit of Faith too makes Souls upvvard tend: […]”

   “Thus was this place, / A happy rural ſeat of various view; / Groves whoſe rich Trees wept Odorous Gummes and Balme, / Others whoſe fruit burniſht with Golden Rinde / Hung amiable, Heſperian Fables true, / If true, here onely, and of delicious taſte: […]”

2. (transitive)Of a stag: to remove the velvet (“skin and fine fur”) from (its antlers) by rubbing them against something; to velvet.

   “His [a hart's] head when it commeth firſt out, hath a ruſſet pyll vpon it, the which is called Veluet,[…]. When his head is growne out to the full bigneſſe, then he rubbeth of that pyll, and that is called fraying of his head. And afterwards he Burniſheth the ſame, and then his head is ſaid to be full ſommed.”

   “The Stagg or Buck burnisheth his head, by rubbing it againſt the trees, Het Hart wrijſt ſijn hooſt tegen de boomen.”

   “Deer are ſaid to burniſh their Heads, vvhen rubbing off a vvhite dovvny Skin from their Horns againſt a Tree, they thruſt 'em into a reddiſh Earth, to give 'em a nevv Colour and Luſtre.”

3. (figuratively, transitive)To make (someone or something) appear positive and highly respected.

   “If a Lye, after it is molded, be not ſmooth enough, there is no inſtrumẽt to burniſh it, but an oath; Svvearing giues it cullor, & a bright complexion.”

   “[I]f he is not burnishing thinks he all's Time does lose, / For Sir Jan, Sir Jan, &c. [i.e., no dinner gave a Muse.]”

   “Purſuit of fame vvith pedants fills our ſchools, / And into Coxcombs burniſhes our Fools; […]”

   “He burnisheth stale villanies afresh. / Whilst, ravenous as sharks for human flesh, / His gaping audience bold the tumid food, / More grateful the more foully 'tis imbued.”

   “Bonnie Parker helped burnish her own image.”

4. (intransitive)To become bright, glossy, and smooth; to brighten, to gleam, to shine forth.

   “Hovv you itch Michaell, hovv you burniſh! / VVill not this ſouldiers heat out of your bones yet, / Doe your eyes glovv novv?”

   “So vvhen the VVar has rais'd a Storm, / I've ſeen a Snake in human Form, / All ſtain'd in Infamy and Vice, / Leap from the Dunghill in a trice, / Burniſh and make a gaudy ſhovv, / Become a General, Peer, and Beau, / Till Peace hath made the Sky Serene, / Then ſhrink into it's Hole again.”

5. Of a person's body: to grow large or stout; to fatten, to fill out.

   “A man Grovveth in heigth and length untill he be one and tvventie yeares of age: then beginneth he to ſpread and burniſh in ſquareneſſe.”

   “We must not all run up in height, like a hop-pole, but also burnish and spread in breadth: then shall we be well proportioned and complete.”

   “A ſlender poet muſt have time to grovv, / And ſpread and burniſh as his brothers do. / […] / Then damn not, but indulge his rude eſſays, / Encourage him, and bloat him up vvith praiſe, […]”

   “Sure he preſum'd of praiſe, vvho came to ſtock / Th' etherial paſtures vvith ſo fair a flock; / Burniſh'd, and bat'ning on their food, to ſhovv / The diligence of carefull herds belovv.”

6. (broadly)Of a thing: to increase in size; to expand, to spread out, to swell.

   “[Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects] is to paſſe a running examination ouer the vvhole Edifice, according to the properties of a vvell ſhapen Man. As […] vvhether the Fabrique bee of a beautifull Stature, vvhether for the breadth it appeare vvell burniſhed, […] and ſo forth.”

   “My thoughts began to burniſh, ſprout, and ſvvell, / Curling vvith metaphors a plain intention, / Decking the ſenſe, as if it vvere to ſell.”

   “Some have ſuſpected the declining of the Luſtre thereof [i.e., of London], becauſe of late it vergeth ſo much VVeſtvvard, increaſing in Buildings in Convent Garden, &c. But by their Favour (to diſprove their Fear) it vvill be found to Burniſh round about, to every point of the compaſſe, vvith nevv Structures daily added thereunto.”

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A shine of something which has been polished; a lustre, a polish.
2. (countable, uncountable)A shiny layer applied to a surface or other thing.
3. (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.

   “With a good burnish, the old table should fetch a higher price.”