japan

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A black enamel or lacquer used to produce a durable glossy finish.
2. n. An object decorated with this substance.
3. v. To decorate with a black enamel or lacquer.
4. v. To coat with a glossy finish.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Of or pertaining to Japan: as, Japan varnish (now written “japan varnish,” without reference to the country); Japan work, etc.
2. n. Work varnished and figured in the manner practised by the natives of Japan.
3. n. A liquid having somewhat the nature of a varnish, made by cooking gum shellac with linseed-oil in a varnish-kettle. Litharge or some similar material is also usually added to quicken the drying of the resulting japan. When it has been cooked down to a very thick mass termed a “pill,” it is allowed to cool, and is then thinned down with turpentine, Japan is a light-colored brownish-yellow liquid, of about the consistency of varnish. A thin surface of it dries in from fifteen to thirty minutes. It is used principally as a medium in grinding japan colors. A small portion added to ordinary house-paints makes them dry more rapidly, hence it is sometimes called japan drier.
4. n. An asphaltum varnish.
5. n. A black cane.
6. To varnish with japan; cover with any material which gives a hard black gloss.
7. To invest with the black coat of a clergyman; ordain.

Wiktionary

1. n. A hard black enamel varnish containing asphalt.
2. n. Lacquer ware.
3. v. transitive To varnish with japan.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner; also, the varnish or lacquer used in japanning.
2. adj. Of or pertaining to Japan, or to the lacquered work of that country.
3. v. To cover with a coat of hard, brilliant varnish, in the manner of the Japanese; to lacquer.
4. v. rare To give a glossy black to, as shoes.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. coat with a lacquer, as done in Japan
2. n. lacquer with a durable glossy black finish, originally from the orient
3. n. a string of more than 3,000 islands to the east of Asia extending 1,300 miles between the Sea of Japan and the western Pacific Ocean
4. n. lacquerware decorated and varnished in the Japanese manner with a glossy durable black lacquer
5. n. a constitutional monarchy occupying the Japanese Archipelago; a world leader in electronics and automobile manufacture and ship building