Answer:
Dickens tries to say that boys were so starved that they ate everything in the bowls always, continuing to grab until they completely cleared it all.
Step-by-step explanation:
Dickens uses this quote in his famous work Oliver Twits to describe how ferociously boys ate their food. He wants to explain that the boys were so hungry and excited about any food, wanting to have so much of it.
He points that out by explaining how they would clear the bowls so much, trying not to leave any food behind. The picture he paints is that boys ate everything and cleared their bowls completely, and bowls did not need to be washed. There was absolutely no food on them afterward. They would grab more and more, trying to eat all, that at the end bowl would seem to be polished.
This picture is effective because it explains perfectly how awful and hungry life was for the orphans. They did not get enough to eat, so they would desperately lick their bowls clean and try to find the last crumb of food even if there wasn’t any left.