polish off

Questions about polish off

What is another word for polish off?

It depends which polish off you mean. In the sense “finish a task completely”, the synonyms are get through, wrap up, finish off, mop up, clear up, finish up. Across all 3 senses there are 15 distinct synonyms, and they are not interchangeable with each other — this page lists them under the sense each one belongs to.

What is the opposite of polish off?

WordNet records no antonym for polish off. Antonymy in WordNet is a relation between specific word forms rather than between concepts, so it is recorded only where lexicographers judged the pairing direct. An absence here means none was recorded, not that none can be imagined.

Why are the synonyms for polish off split into groups?

Because polish off carries 3 recorded senses and each has its own set of substitutes. A single flat list would put words from unrelated meanings side by side with nothing to tell them apart, which is exactly how a writer picks the wrong one. The grouping comes from WordNet's synsets, not from an editorial judgement of ours.

Where do the synonyms for polish off come from?

From Princeton University's WordNet, a lexical database maintained by lexicographers since 1985. A synonym here means a word form that shares a synset with this word — a set of forms interchangeable in one recorded context. Nothing on this page is generated by a language model.

Other views of polish off

• Full entry for polish offAll 3 senses, with examples, usage labels, syllables and pronunciation.
• Rhymes for polish offWhether this word can be rhymed at all — it is not in the pronouncing dictionary.
• Thesaurus homeHow WordNet synsets work, and the collections built for synonym work.