lacquer

or lack·er

[ lak-er ]
/ ˈlæk ər /

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.

Origin of lacquer

1570–80; earlier leckar, laker < Portuguese lacre, lacar, unexplained variant of laca < Arabic lakk < Persian lâk lac1

OTHER WORDS FROM lacquer

lac·quer·er, noun re·lac·quer, verb (used with object) un·lac·quered, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for lacquer

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, noun

Word Origin for lacquer

C16: from obsolete French lacre sealing wax, from Portuguese laca lac 1