polish off

Meaning

To 'polish off' means to quickly and completely finish eating or drinking something, leaving nothing left. It is commonly used in casual, informal settings when someone consumes the last of a meal or snack with ease.

Examples

• Who polished off the rest of the chocolate cake I left in the fridge?

  Who polished off the rest of the chocolate cake I left in the fridge?

• We managed to polish off two whole pizzas before the movie even started.

  We managed to polish off two whole pizzas before the movie even started.

• I'm so hungry I could easily polish off this entire platter of nachos.

  I'm so hungry I could easily polish off this entire platter of nachos.

• Let's polish off these leftovers before they go bad.

  Let's polish off these leftovers before they go bad.

• He polished off his milkshake in under a minute and asked for another.

  He polished off his milkshake in under a minute and asked for another.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I polished off to my dinner.

  ✓ I polished off my dinner.

  'Polish off' is a transitive phrasal verb and takes a direct object immediately. Do not insert the preposition 'to' after 'off'.

• ✗ I need to polish off my shoes before the wedding.

  ✓ I need to polish my shoes before the wedding.

  'Polish off' means to consume or finish completely. To clean or shine shoes, use the simple verb 'polish' without 'off'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• There were three donuts left, but Ryan managed to ___ them all.

  💡 Phasual verb meaning to finish eating completely.

  Show answer

  polish off

• Don't tell me you already ___ that entire tub of ice cream!

  💡 Use the past tense of the phrasal verb.

  Show answer

  polished off