2 uses
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Definition
polish and make shiny — especially metal
or more generally: to improve something — especially the impression that something makes
or more generally: to improve something — especially the impression that something makes
- Yet, in saying this, I do but indirectly burnish a little brighter the noble merit of the poem and the poet.Chapters 40-42 -- Midnight, Forecastle; Moby Dick; The Whiteness of the Whale (73% in)
- But one transparent blue morning, when a stillness almost preternatural spread over the sea, however unattended with any stagnant calm; when the long burnished sun-glade on the waters seemed a golden finger laid across them, enjoining some secrecy; when the slippered waves whispered together as they softly ran on; in this profound hush of the visible sphere a strange spectre was seen by Daggoo from the main-mast-head.Chapters 58-60 -- Brit; Squid; The Line (33% in)
There are no more uses of "burnish" in Moby Dick.
Typical Usage
(best examples)