apple-polish
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to try to win favor by flattering or doing small tasks
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Cố gắng giành được sự yêu thích bằng cách xu nịnh hoặc làm việc nhỏ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: polishing an apple
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He's always apple-polishing to get ahead at work
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “apple-polish” mean?
to try to win favor by flattering or doing small tasks Literally: polishing an apple
Is “apple-polish” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.