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.
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 treean E Asian anacardiaceous tree, Rhus verniciflua, whose stem yields a toxic exudation from which black lacquer is obtained
Also called: hair lacquera mixture of shellac and alcohol for spraying onto the hair to hold a style in place
artdecorative objects coated with such lacquer, often inlaid
verb
(tr)to apply lacquer to
Derived Formslacquerer, noun
Word Origin for lacquer
C16: from obsolete French lacre sealing wax, from Portuguese lacalac1
1570s as "dye obtained from lac;" 1670s as "lacquer," from obsolete French lacre, name for a kind of sealing wax, from Portuguese lacre, unexplained variant of lacca "resinous substance," from Arabic lakk, from Persian lak (see lac).
v.
"cover or coat with laqueur," 1680s, from lacquer (n.). Related: Lacquered; lacquering.
