SHELLAC (shellacked, shellacking)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: shellacked    , shellacking   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shellac mean? 

• SHELLAC (noun)
  The noun SHELLAC has 2 senses:

1. lac purified by heating and filtering; usually in thin orange or yellow flakes but sometimes bleached white

2. a thin varnish made by dissolving lac in ethanol; used to finish wood

  Familiarity information: SHELLAC used as a noun is rare.

• SHELLAC (verb)
  The verb SHELLAC has 1 sense:

1. cover with shellac

  Familiarity information: SHELLAC used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHELLAC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lac purified by heating and filtering; usually in thin orange or yellow flakes but sometimes bleached white

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("shellac" is a kind of...):

lac (resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects; used in e.g. varnishes and sealing wax)

Meronyms (substance of "shellac"):

stick lac (lac in its natural state as scraped off twigs and dried)

Derivation:

shellac (cover with shellac)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A thin varnish made by dissolving lac in ethanol; used to finish wood

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

shellac; shellac varnish

Hypernyms ("shellac" is a kind of...):

varnish (a coating that provides a hard, lustrous, transparent finish to a surface)

Meronyms (substance of "shellac"):

lac (resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects; used in e.g. varnishes and sealing wax)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shellac"):

French polish; French polish shellac (a varnish for wood consisting of shellac dissolved in alcohol)

Derivation:

shellac (cover with shellac)

• SHELLAC (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they shellac    ... he / she / it shellacs   
Past simple: shellacked   
Past participle: shellacked   
-ing form: shellacking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cover with shellac

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

shellac; shellack

Context example:

She wanted to shellac the desk to protect it from water spots

Hypernyms (to "shellac" is one way to...):

seal; varnish (cover with varnish)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

shellac (a thin varnish made by dissolving lac in ethanol; used to finish wood)

shellac (lac purified by heating and filtering; usually in thin orange or yellow flakes but sometimes bleached white)

 Context examples 

Typical pill coatings include zein, shellac, or sugars.

(Coating Excipient, NCI Thesaurus)