cirer

The standard verb for polishing with wax — cirer ses chaussures, cirer un meuble. It also anchors a very common informal expression for flattery, cirer les pompes à quelqu'un.

• Il cire ses chaussures tous les dimanches soir. — He polishes his shoes every Sunday evening.
• Elle a ciré la vieille table en bois. — She waxed the old wooden table.
• Arrête de cirer les pompes du patron. — Stop sucking up to the boss.

Cirer les pompes à quelqu'un is informal slang for flattering someone excessively to gain favor — don't take it literally outside that fixed expression, or use it in a formal register.

• expression "Cirer les pompes" — A common French idiom for excessive, self-serving flattery, built on the image of a shoeshiner in a submissive position at someone's feet.