VARNISH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does varnish mean? 

• VARNISH (noun)
  The noun VARNISH has 1 sense:

1. a coating that provides a hard, lustrous, transparent finish to a surface

  Familiarity information: VARNISH used as a noun is very rare.

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

1. cover with varnish

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• VARNISH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A coating that provides a hard, lustrous, transparent finish to a surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

coat; coating (a thin layer covering something)

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

fixative (a varnish dissolved in alcohol and sprayed over pictures to prevent smudging)

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

Derivation:

varnish (cover with varnish)

• VARNISH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they varnish    ... he / she / it varnishes   
Past simple: varnished   
Past participle: varnished   
-ing form: varnishing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cover with varnish

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

seal; varnish

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

coat; surface (put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "varnish"):

shellac; shellack (cover with shellac)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

varnisher (someone who applies a finishing coat of varnish)

 Context examples 

He made his face shine with the punch, so that it looked as if it had been varnished all over.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I have had an opportunity of examining yours, and I do not find that slight discolouration which the scratch made upon the varnish would have produced.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Varnish and gilding hide many stains.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

It is used as an industrial solvent in paints, varnishes, lacquer thinners, gasoline, etc. Benzene causes central nervous system damage acutely and bone marrow damage chronically and is carcinogenic.

(Benzene, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

He drew, he varnished, he carpentered, he glued; he made toys for the children; he fashioned new netting-needles and pins with improvements; and if everything else was done, sat down to his large fishing-net at one corner of the room.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

There’s the varnish, too, like earth on each side of a furrow.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And, my dear Edmund, added Mrs. Norris, taking out two carriages when one will do, would be trouble for nothing; and, between ourselves, coachman is not very fond of the roads between this and Sotherton: he always complains bitterly of the narrow lanes scratching his carriage, and you know one should not like to have dear Sir Thomas, when he comes home, find all the varnish scratched off.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I am sure you did not, for a duster would have swept away these shreds of varnish.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The mark which he was examining began upon the brass-work on the right-hand side of the keyhole, and extended for about four inches, where it had scratched the varnish from the surface.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)