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lacquer

or lack·er

[lak-er]
See more synonyms for lacquer on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a protective coating consisting of a resin, cellulose ester, or both, dissolved in a volatile solvent, sometimes with pigment added.
  2. 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.
  3. Also called lacquer ware, lac·quer·ware. ware, especially of wood, coated with such a varnish, and often inlaid: They collected fine Japanese lacquers.
  4. Slang. any volatile solvent that produces euphoria when inhaled.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to coat with lacquer.
  2. 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 lâk lac1
Related formslac·quer·er, nounre·lac·quer, verb (used with object)un·lac·quered, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lacquer

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Will there be one morsel of honest flesh, when all the lacquer of paint is washed off?

    A Day's Ride

    Charles James Lever

  • Do you know that he has the one collection of Japanese lacquer in Europe?

    The Napoleon of Notting Hill

    Gilbert K. Chesterton

  • The walls are all covered with the finest paintings in gold and lacquer.

    From Pole to Pole

    Sven Anders Hedin

  • The dressing table and the chaise-longue are of Chinese lacquer.

    The Merry-Go-Round

    Carl Van Vechten

  • The lacquer is drawn from its milky sap and mixed with the oil of the bignonia.

    In the Eastern Seas

    W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for lacquer

lacquer

noun
  1. a hard glossy coating made by dissolving cellulose derivatives or natural resins in a volatile solvent
  2. a black resinous substance, obtained from certain trees, used to give a hard glossy finish to wooden furniture
  3. 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
  4. Also called: hair lacquer a mixture of shellac and alcohol for spraying onto the hair to hold a style in place
  5. art decorative objects coated with such lacquer, often inlaid
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verb
  1. (tr) to apply lacquer to
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Derived Formslacquerer, noun

Word Origin

C16: from obsolete French lacre sealing wax, from Portuguese laca lac 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lacquer

n.

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).

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v.

"cover or coat with laqueur," 1680s, from lacquer (n.). Related: Lacquered; lacquering.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper