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lacquer
or lack·er
[ lak-er ]
/ ˈlæk ər /
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noun
a protective coating consisting of a resin, cellulose ester, or both, dissolved in a volatile solvent, sometimes with pigment added.
any of various resinous varnishes, especially a resinous varnish obtained from a Japanese tree, Rhus verniciflua, used to produce a highly polished, lustrous surface on wood or the like.
Also called lacquer ware, lac·quer·ware . ware, especially of wood, coated with such a varnish, and often inlaid: They collected fine Japanese lacquers.
Slang. any volatile solvent that produces euphoria when inhaled.
verb (used with object)
to coat with lacquer.
to cover, as with facile or fluent words or explanations cleverly worded, etc.; obscure the faults of; gloss (often followed by over): The speech tended to lacquer over the terrible conditions.
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Origin of lacquer
1570–80; earlier leckar, laker<Portuguese lacre, lacar, unexplained variant of laca<Arabic lakk<Persian lâklac1
OTHER WORDS FROM lacquer
lac·quer·er, nounre·lac·quer, verb (used with object)un·lac·quered, adjectiveWords nearby lacquer
laconical, laconicum, laconism, La Coruña, Lacoste, lacquer, lacquer tree, lacquey, Lacretelle, Lacrima Christi, lacrimal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use lacquer in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for lacquer
lacquer
/ (ˈlækə) /
noun
a hard glossy coating made by dissolving cellulose derivatives or natural resins in a volatile solvent
a black resinous substance, obtained from certain trees, used to give a hard glossy finish to wooden furniture
lacquer tree Also called: varnish tree an E Asian anacardiaceous tree, Rhus verniciflua, whose stem yields a toxic exudation from which black lacquer is obtained
Also called: hair lacquer a mixture of shellac and alcohol for spraying onto the hair to hold a style in place
art decorative objects coated with such lacquer, often inlaid
verb
(tr) to apply lacquer to
Derived forms of lacquer
lacquerer, nounWord Origin for lacquer
C16: from obsolete French lacre sealing wax, from Portuguese laca lac 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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