poetsen

Poetsen is a Dutch verb meaning to clean, scrub, or polish. It covers removing dirt or grime from surfaces as well as brightening a material by polishing. The term is also used in personal hygiene contexts, notably tanden poetsen (to brush teeth).

In daily language, poetsen is applied to many objects and tasks: the floor, windows, furniture, and metal surfaces can be poetsen; shoes are often described as poetsen to make them shine.

Conjugation follows a regular pattern: ik poets, jij poetst, hij poetst; wij poetsen; verleden tijd: ik poetste, jij poetste, hij poetste; voltooid deelwoord: gepoetst.

Etymology: The origin is rooted in older Dutch and the sense of cleaning or brightening; it is well established in the history of the Dutch language and remains common in modern Dutch.

See also: schoonmaken, reinigen, schrobben, polijsten.