lacquer: Meaning and Definition of

lac•quer

Pronunciation: (lak'ur), [key]
— n.
  1. a protective coating consisting of a resin, cellulose ester, or both, dissolved in a volatile solvent, sometimes with pigment added.
  2. any of various resinous varnishes, esp. a resinous varnish obtained from a Japanese tree, Rhus verniciflua, used to produce a highly polished, lustrous surface on wood or the like.
  3. Also calledware, esp. of wood, coated with such a varnish, and often inlaid: They collected fine Oriental lacquers.
  4. any volatile solvent that produces euphoria when inhaled.
—v.t.
  1. to coat with lacquer.
  2. to cover, as with facile or fluent words or explanations cleverly worded, etc.; obscure the faults of; gloss (often fol. by over): The speech tended to lacquer over the terrible conditions.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
See also: