polish off

1. 1.

   finish a task completely

   “I finally got through this homework assignment”

   Synonymsget throughwrap upfinish offmop upclear upfinish up

   Broadercomplete

   Narrowercap off
2. 2.

   kill intentionally and with premeditation

   “The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered”

   Synonymsmurderslayhitdispatchbump offoffremove

   Broaderkill

   Narrowerburkeexecute
3. 3.

   finish eating all the food on one's plate or on the table

   “She polished off the remaining potatoes”

   Synonymseat upfinish

   Broadereat

   Narrowertuck indevour

Questions about polish off

What does polish off mean?

polish off means "finish a task completely". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for polish off?

Close synonyms include get through, wrap up, finish off, mop up, clear up. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is polish off a common word?

polish off is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.