1
: purified lac usually prepared in thin orange or yellow flakes by heating and filtering and often bleached white
2
: a preparation of lac dissolved usually in alcohol and used chiefly as a wood filler and finish
3
a
: a composition containing shellac formerly used for making phonograph records
b
: an old 78 rpm phonograph record
shellacked; shellacking
1
: to coat or otherwise treat with shellac or a shellac varnish
2
: to defeat decisively
Examples of shellac in a Sentence
Verb
the local football team was shellacked 35-0 in their final outing for the season
Recent Examples on the Web
Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2025
Wood cabinets are finished with a variety of durable, protective coatings such as varnishes, lacquers, and, on some vintage cabinets, shellac.
—Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 14 Aug. 2025
Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025
Pritzker shellacked Bailey in 2022.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shellac
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Noun
As Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle told Rolling Stone last year, the point of the Great 78 Project wasn’t to just highlight the shellac discs that have become major collector’s items, but the vast array of recorded music released during the first half of the 20th century.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2025
Wood cabinets are finished with a variety of durable, protective coatings such as varnishes, lacquers, and, on some vintage cabinets, shellac.
—Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 14 Aug. 2025
Verb
Robert Morris opened the campaign with a 45-3 loss at West Virginia before taking a 56-17 shellacking at Youngstown State.
—Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025
Pritzker shellacked Bailey in 2022.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shellac
Cite this Entry
“Shellac.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shellac. Accessed 28 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shellac
1 of 2 noun
shel·lac
shə-ˈlak 
1
: purified lac
2
: a preparation of lac dissolved in alcohol and used as a wood filler or finish
shellac
2 of 2 verb
shellacked; shellacking
: to coat or treat with shellac
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