expŏlĭo, īvi or ĭi, ītum, 4, v. a., to smooth off, make smooth, polish.
I Lit.: hac (i. e. herinacei) cute expoliuntur vestes, Plin. 8, 37, 56, § 135: libellus arida pumice expolitus, Cat. 1, 2: aedes expolitae, Plaut. Most. 1, 2, 18: expolitus paries, Vitr. 7, 9; cf. under P. a. : signum, Quint. 2, 19, 3: scabritias unguium, Plin. 24, 4, 6, § 12.— Pass. in mid. force: numquam concessavimus poliri, expoliri, pingi, Plaut. Poen. 1, 2, 11. —
II Trop., to polish , finish , accomplish , embellish , improve , refine , elaborate : parentes (liberos) expoliunt, docent litteras, Plaut. Most. 1, 2, 45; cf.: Dionem Plato doctrinis omnibus expolivit, Cic. de Or. 3, 34, 139: vir omni vita atque victu excultus atque expolitus, id. Brut. 25, 95: illi te expoliendum limandumque permittas, Plin. Ep. 1, 10: Graeca doctrina expolitus, Gell. 15, 11, 3: nox te expolivit hominemque reddidit, Cic. de Or. 2, 10, 40: nihil omnibus ex partibus perfectum natura expolivit, id. Inv. 2, 1, 3: inventum, Auct. Her. 2, 18, 27: eandem rem eodem modo dicere ... id obtundere auditorem est, non rem expolire, id. 4, 42, 54: partiones, Cic. Inv. 1, 41, 76: orationem, Quint. 8, 3, 42: consilium, Plaut. Poen. 1, 1, 60: opus, id. Mil. 4, 4, 38.—
B Com., to polish off , i. e. to ruin : qui amat, nequit quin nihili sit atque improbis artibus se expoliat, Plaut. Truc. 2, 7, 3.
IV —Hence, expŏlī-tus , a, um, P. a., polished , smooth , neat , clean : dens expolitior, Cat. 39, 20: frumenta expolitiora, Col. 2, 20, 6: villae expolitissimae, Scipio Afric. ap. Gell. 2, 20, 6.