lacquer
or lack·er
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.
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.
Origin of lacquer
1Other words from lacquer
- lac·quer·er, noun
- re·lac·quer, verb (used with object)
- un·lac·quered, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use lacquer in a sentence
You remained in the garage about a half hour lacquering your children's blocks.
Warren Commission (3 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyIt may be protected to some extent by lacquering with pale lacquer, but it loses some of its brilliancy and purity in the process.
On Laboratory Arts | Richard ThrelfallThe latter are prepared by varnishing or lacquering the former.
Women were employed extensively in the light chain trade, also in lacquering in the brass trade, and in many other occupations.
Women in Modern Industry | B. L. HutchinsThe process of lacquering is as tedious to-day as it ever was, and the reproductions sell for goodly sums.
The House in Good Taste | Elsie de Wolfe
British Dictionary definitions for lacquer
/ (ˈlækə) /
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
(tr) to apply lacquer to
Origin of lacquer
1Derived forms of lacquer
- lacquerer, noun
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
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