Polishing iron, an iron burnisher; esp., a small smoothing iron used in laundries. -- Polishing slate. (a)A gray or yellow slate, found in Bohemia and Auvergne, and used for polishing glass, marble, and metals. (b)A kind of hone or whetstone; hone slate. -- Polishing snake, a tool used in cleaning lithographic stones. -- Polishing wheel, a wheel or disk coated with, or composed of, abrading material, for polishing a surface. [ 1913 Webster ]