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polish off meaning and examples

2025-09-21

Meaning

“Polish off” is a phrasal verb that means:

  1. To finish something quickly and completely, especially food or drink.
  2. To complete or deal with something easily or quickly.

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: Phrasal verb
  • Transitive: Requires an object.
  • Typical pattern: polish off + noun

Examples of usage:

  • He polished off the pizza in ten minutes.
  • She polished off the report before lunch.

Common Phrases

  • polish off a meal
  • polish off a bottle of wine
  • polish off homework
  • polish off a project

Collocations

  • Verb + polish off: can, manage to, easily, quickly
  • Noun + polish off: meal, sandwich, drink, task, assignment

Examples

  1. He polished off two burgers without stopping.
  2. They polished off the entire cake before I arrived.
  3. She polished off her homework in less than an hour.
  4. The team polished off their rivals in the final match.
  5. I polished off a bottle of water after the long run.
  6. He polished off the project so fast that his manager was impressed.
  7. We polished off all the snacks during the movie.
  • finish off
  • consume
  • gobble up
  • devour
  • complete

Antonym

  • leave unfinished
  • save for later
  • put aside