1 B2 neutral
To clean and polish an object until it gleams and reflects light.
"He spent an hour shining up the old trophy before putting it in the cabinet."
separable
shine up
B2 informal separable transitive/intransitive
To polish or clean something until it is bright and shiny; or (informal) to curry favour with someone by flattery.
In plain English
To make something shiny by cleaning and polishing it — or to try to get someone to like you by being extra nice to them.
What does "shine up" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 C1 idiomatic informal
(Informal, chiefly American) To try to win someone's favour through flattery or overly friendly behaviour.
"Everyone noticed that he was always shining up to the manager, hoping for a promotion."
inseparable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To apply effort upward (i.e., in a positive direction) to make something emit or reflect light — polishing.
Actually means
To make something shiny by cleaning and polishing it — or to try to get someone to like you by being extra nice to them.
Usage tip
The polishing sense is transparent and used in everyday speech. The sense of flattering someone ('shining up to the boss') is informal and chiefly American. Both senses are used but neither is extremely frequent.
Words that pair with "shine up"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
shoes silver brass car boss teacher surface
How to conjugate "shine up"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
shine up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
shines up
he/she/it
Past simple
shined up
yesterday
Past participle
shined up
have + pp
-ing form
shining up
continuous
Hear "shine up" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "shine up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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