A polishing apparatus is employed to polish an object to be polished by urging the surface of the object to be polished against the surface of a polishing cloth and causing a relative movement therebetween, while supplying a polishing liquid into an area between the object to be polished and the polishing cloth. A plurality of nozzles spray respective fluid jets to strike against the surface of the cloth. The plurality of nozzles include more than one type of nozzle which vary flow velocity, flow rate, angle of spray, and cross-sectional configuration of a jet. The plurality of nozzles have axes positioned at a location at different distances from the rotation axis of the polishing cloth.