From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishemeryem‧e‧ry /ˈeməri/ noun [uncountable] HEGa very hard mineral that is used for polishing things and making them smooth
Examples from the Corpus
emery• Keep an emery board handy in case of nail snags, so your teeth do not get to them first!• It grated like an emery board on my nails.• Use an emery board to smooth sharp edges that could cut an adjacent toe.• Smooth over the edges with an emery board.• When filing, use a disposable emery board as opposed to a metal file.• Particles in the bright wind, flinging downtown, acted like emery on the face.• The drill might be made of wood or bronze, using sand or emery, imported from Naxos, as an abrasive.• Naxos supplied Crete with emery, which was needed for drilling and polishing the stone bowls and vases.Origin emery (1400-1500) French émeri, from Old Italian smiriglio, from Greek smyris 