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  1. shellac love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A purified lac in the form of thin yellow or orange flakes, often bleached white and widely used in varnishes, paints, inks, sealants, and formerly in phonograph records.
  2. n. A thin varnish made by dissolving this substance in denatured alcohol, used to finish wood.
  3. n. An old phonograph record containing this substance, typically played at 78 rpm.
  4. v. To coat or finish with shellac.
  5. v. Slang To strike repeatedly and severely; batter.
  6. v. Slang To defeat decisively.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Seed-lac melted and formed into thin plates. This is the form in which it is generally sold for making varnish and the like. See lac.
  2. To coat with shellac.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A processed secretion of the lac insect, Coccus lacca; used in polishes, varnishes etc.
  2. v. To coat something with shellac.
  3. v. informal, US To inflict a heavy defeat; to drub; to batter. Used primarily in sports and political contexts.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Lac which has been reduced to a thin crust. See the Note under 2d lac.
  2. n. A solution of shellac{1} in alcohol or other volatile solvent, used as a varnish.
  3. n. Obsolescent A phonograph record, made of a material containing shellac; -- no longer manufactured.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. cover with shellac
  2. n. lac purified by heating and filtering; usually in thin orange or yellow flakes but sometimes bleached white
  3. n. a thin varnish made by dissolving lac in ethanol; used to finish wood

Etymologies

  1. shell +‎ lac, calque translation of French laque ("lac") + en ("in") + écailles ("scales, shells") (Wiktionary)
  2. shel(l) + lac (translation of French laque en écailles, lac in thin plates). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “The important things are to keep the shellac cup and brush for _shellac only_, (indeed, it is”

    Handwork in Wood

  • “Perhaps the spray from his orange-tan or hair shellac is getting to him.”

    Evening Buzz: Gadhafi Tent Controversy

  • “Pigmented shellac is the typical interior sealer (seals crayon, magic marker, etc).”

    Mold

  • “The suggestion for white pigmented shellac is a good one, but not for the purpose of sealing the algae in, but to keep moisture out.”

    Mold

  • “According to Opulent Items, the exterior is lacquered and the sphere is finished with shellac, which is a natural polymer harvested from tree bark. $6,500 from Opulentitems. com.”

    Interesting Expansible Coffee Tables

  • “The sealer is usually shellac, which is thinned with denatured alcohol. 3 to 4 coats of shellac are needed, but each application should be allowed to dry completely before applying the next, otherwise the earlier shellac layers will be partly dissolved by the new coat and form bumps on the mould surface.”

    6. Mouldmaking and Plaster of Paris

  • “The thread is cut off below the lower slip of paper, and the upper support being conveniently laid in a horizontal position on another dead-black surface, the thread is carried to it and laid as designed against the shellac, which is now cold.”

    On Laboratory Arts

  • “Okay, I have three sprayers: one paint sprayer for latex/oil paints, one gravity fed sprayer, and one HVLP set-up for shellac, which is part of the finish for all of our woodwork”

    Corrente

  • “It’s too shiny, like everything has been dipped in shellac.”

    DC Launches Earth One; Reaction Not as Positive as Hoped » Comics Worth Reading

  • “Our agent does not contain shellac which is an advantage both for the manufacturer, and the consumer, as shellac is not appreciated by all food manufacturers due to its origin and its extraction in ethanol," added Benech.”

    BakeryAndSnacks RSS

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synonyms (2)

Words with the same meaning

  1. glazing agent
  1. E904

equivalents (1)

Other words for ‘shellac’

  1. shell-lac

hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. varnish
  1. seal
  1. lac

same context (22)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. lacker
  2. dammar
  3. sandarach
  4. asphaltum
  1. retouch
  2. turpentine
  3. magnesite
  4. golden-tinged
  1. copal
  2. benzoin
  3. pyroxyline
  4. caulk
  1. intarsia
  2. puttee
  3. putty
  4. polyurethane
  1. drier
  2. fourth-place
  3. urethane
  4. limestone
  1. paraffin
  2. aryl

reverse dictionary (28)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. French polish
  2. french polish shellac
  3. shell-lac
  4. electrophorus
  5. lithotypy
  1. lacquer
  2. marine glue
  3. proofing
  4. retouching-varnish
  5. transfer-ink
  1. rubberide
  2. sealing wax
  3. lac
  4. diatite
  5. emery-stone
  1. isopropyl alcohol
  2. seventy-eight
  3. shellac
  4. shellac wax
  5. shellack
  1. finish
  2. lac wax
  3. 78
  4. cement
  5. cut
  1. fixative
  2. japan
  3. polish

tags (3)

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  1. fun
  1. favorite
  1. band name

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‘shellac’ has been looked up 2063 times, loved by 2 people, added to 21 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 12.