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In pottery, a stone is sometimes used to burnish a pot before firing, giving it a smooth, shiny look.
1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell,”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton:, volume I, London: Thomas Rodd,, published 1843, →OCLC, page 383, lines 1205–1208:
Lyke as the larke, vpon the somers day, / Whan Titan radiant burnisshith his bemis bryght, […]
1663, Edward Sparke, “Poem 15. On Whitsunday.”, in ΘΥΣΙΑΣΤΗΡΙΟΝ vel Scintilla-Altaris. Or Primitive Devotion in the Feasts and Fasts of the Church of England., 3rd edition, London: R. Wood, for H. Brome,, →OCLC, page 327:
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: […]
1766, John Cunningham, “Day, a Pastoral. Evening.”, in Poems, Chiefly Pastoral, Dublin: Peter Wilson,, and Boulter Grierson,, →OCLC, stanza XIX, page 10:
Novv the village vvindovvs blaze, / Burniſh'd by the ſetting ſun.
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.
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.
1606, Thomas Dekker, “The Seuen Deadly Sinnes of London: Drawne in Seuen Severall Coaches, through the Seuen Seueral Gates of the Citie Bringing the Plague with Them: 2. Lying. Or, The Second Dayes Triumph”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Non-dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker. (The Huth Library), volume II, London, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: [Hazell, Watson, & Viney] for private circulation only, published 1885, →OCLC, page 34:
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.
1726, [Edward Young], The Universal Passion. Satire the Last. To the Right Honourable Sir Robert Walpole., 1st edition, London: J Roberts, →OCLC, page 8:
Purſuit of fame vvith pedants fills our ſchools, / And into Coxcombs burniſhes our Fools; […]
1870, The Superior Animal; a Satire, London: J. Haddon & Co.,, →OCLC, page 15:
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.
2006, Laura Browder, “Maid Marians and Bad Mothers: From the Gungirls of the 1920s to the Gangsters of the 1930s”, in Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 133:
2008, Otto Rahn, “Meran”, in Christopher Jones, transl., Lucifer’s Court: A Heretic’s Journey in Search of the Light Bringers, 1st U.S. edition, Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, →ISBN, part 2, page 108:
In particular, those who experienced her [Elizabeth of Hungary's]three rose miracles did the most to burnish her legend.
2016, Geo Takach, “War of the Wild Roses”, in A. Hansen, S. Depoe, editors, Scripting the Environment: Oil, Democracy and the Sands of Time and Space (Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication), Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, page 165:
Desperate to burnish her legacy, Louise pleads her case for higher status based on her achievements on Earth as a philanthropist, artist, and occasional royal rebel.
One of her [Sheryl Sandberg's] primary roles had been to charm Washington on Facebook's behalf, and protect and burnish its image. Neither project was going particularly well.
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.
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.
1675, John Dryden, “Prologue to Circe”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden,, volume II, London: J and R Tonson,, published 1760, →OCLC, page 310:
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.
[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.
An adjective use.
, George Herbert, “Jordan”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green,, →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock,, 1885, →OCLC, page 95:
My thoughts began to burniſh, ſprout, and ſvvell, / Curling vvith metaphors a plain intention, / Decking the ſenſe, as if it vvere to ſell.
a.1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “London”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: J G W L and W G, published 1662, →OCLC, page 190:
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 Burniſhround about, to every point of the compaſſe, vvith nevv Structures daily added thereunto.
Translations
of a person’s body: to grow large or stout — see fatten, fill out