What does burnish mean?
Word: Burnish
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Burnish means to rub metal until it is smooth and shines.
How do you spell burnish?
Syllables: bur - nish
Tricky part: The sound in the opening syllable can be spelt in several ways, and pupils often pick er. The letter here is u.
Watch out for: bernish, birnish, burrnish
Memory tip: Picture metal rubbed until it glows as if it could burn: that gives you the u.
Burnish in a sentence
Example 1: The jeweller burnished the silver ring with great care.
Example 2: The burnished silver trophy stood on the head's desk.
Example 3: He spent the whole afternoon burnishing his grandfather's old medal.
Fun Fact
It goes back to an Old French verb meaning to make something brown, and that verb is related to the English word brown.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
burn_s_
a) i, h
b) a, h
c) i, t
d) e, h
Show answer
a) i, h. The ending is the same one you see in finish.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The old silversmith showed the visitors how to burnnish a plain spoon until they could see their own faces in it.
a) silversmith
b) burnnish
c) faces
d) visitors
Show answer
b) burnnish. The n is never doubled in this word.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
The craftsman worked for an hour to unsribh the copper tray until it glowed.
a) tarnish
b) furnish
c) burnish
d) banish
Show answer
c) burnish. The jumble has a b and a u, which leaves one option: furnish has no b, tarnish no u and banish no u.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word burnish as used in the sentence:
Before the visitors came, Dadaji would burnish the brass door handles.
a) dent
b) paint
c) bend
d) polish
Show answer
d) polish. Rubbing brass to make it shine is the same as polishing it.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What would a person most likely need in order to burnish a copper pot?
a) a bucket of wet garden soil
b) a soft cloth and some patience
c) a pair of kitchen scissors
d) a hammer and a sharp chisel
Show answer
b) a soft cloth and some patience
2. How would a copper pot change after this treatment?
a) It would disappear under new paint
b) It would catch the light and gleam
c) It would be bent out of shape
d) It would turn dull and patchy
Show answer
b) It would catch the light and gleam
