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veneer

[vuh-neer]
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noun
  1. a thin layer of wood or other material for facing or inlaying wood.
  2. any of the thin layers of wood glued together to form plywood.
  3. Building Trades. a facing of a certain material applied to a different one or to a type of construction not ordinarily associated with it, as a facing of brick applied to a frame house.
  4. a superficially valuable or pleasing appearance: a cruel person with a veneer of kindliness.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to overlay or face (wood) with thin sheets of some material, as a fine wood, ivory, or tortoise shell.
  2. to face or cover (an object) with any material that is more desirable as a surface material than the basic material of the object; revet.
  3. to cement (layers of wood veneer) to form plywood.
  4. to give a superficially valuable or pleasing appearance to.
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Origin of veneer

1695–1705; earlier fineering, faneering < German Fourni(e)rung, Furni(e)rung, equivalent to furni(e)ren to furnish (< French fournir) + -ung -ing1
Related formsve·neer·er, nounun·ve·neered, adjective

Synonyms

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4. façade, front, show, mask, guise.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

layer, semblance, mask, gloss, coating, exterior, facade, guise, finish, leaf, covering, appearance, overlay, cover, surface, face, disguise, show, blanch, plate

Examples from the Web for veneer

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Or is it a factory, disguised with a veneer of the Puginesque?

  • A second time I glimpsed the Slav behind his veneer of civilization.

    The Pirate of Panama

    William MacLeod Raine

  • Some have no veneer like this boor, and some have the polish, but they are all the same underneath.

    In Apple-Blossom Time

    Clara Louise Burnham

  • Truthfulness is essential to culture, which, without it, will be only a veneer.

    Girls and Women

    Harriet E. Paine (AKA E. Chester}

  • This veneer had come unloosened in many places and was split up.

    Jewish Children

    Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich

British Dictionary definitions for veneer

veneer

noun
  1. a thin layer of wood, plastic, etc, with a decorative or fine finish that is bonded to the surface of a less expensive material, usually wood
  2. a superficial appearance, esp one that is pleasinga veneer of gentility
  3. any facing material that is applied to a different backing material
  4. any one of the layers of wood that is used to form plywood
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verb (tr)
  1. to cover (a surface) with a veneer
  2. to bond together (thin layers of wood) to make plywood
  3. to conceal (something) under a superficially pleasant surface
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Derived Formsveneerer, noun

Word Origin

C17: from German furnieren to veneer, from Old French fournir to furnish
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 veneer

n.

1702, from German Furnier, from furnieren "to cover with a veneer, inlay," from French fournir "to furnish, accomplish," from Middle French fornir "to furnish," from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German frumjan "to provide;" see furnish). A word batted back and forth from German to French to German. Figurative sense of "mere outward show of some good quality" is attested from 1868. The verb is recorded from 1728.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
veneer in Medicine

veneer

(və-nîr′)
n.
  1. A layer of tooth-colored material, usually porcelain or acrylic resin, attached to and covering the surface of a metal crown or natural tooth structure.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.