How to Use shellac in a Sentence

shellac

1 of 2 noun

• Any candy corn that’s made with shellac will list it on the package.
  — Lauren Manaker Ms, Rdn, Verywell Health, 26 Oct. 2023
• More than one toddler pulling a toy train across the scratch-free, shellac-finished, quarter-sawn oak floors?
  — The Washington Post, The Denver Post, 12 May 2017
• As the cake cools, the glaze soaks in and forms a delicate shellac—almost like a glazed donut—on the surface.
  — The Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors, Bon Appétit, 2 Feb. 2024
• Once the sticky stuff is off, a new coat of shellac can go on if needed, because fresh shellac sticks to old shellac.
  — Washington Post, 9 May 2022
• It was run by two old women, who stood behind old counters, in front of walls with thousands of old shellac platters.
  — Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 16 Mar. 2026
• The needle hits the shellac and starts to dance back and forth in the groove, pushing air through a diaphragm to amplify the sound.
  — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 29 Sep. 2024
• The shapes are cut with a jigsaw and computerized router, sanded by hand, and then finished with shellac.
  — Richard Mertens, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Mar. 2022
• It is used to make liquid shellac, a brush-on colorant and wood finish, and is found in shampoos, aluminum foil and lipstick.
  — Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2026
• Lacquer is a layer of shellac mixed with alcohol that's used to coat higher-end pieces of furniture.
  — Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 16 Mar. 2025
• But alcohol also acts as a solvent when used on oil, grease, and certain wood finishes like shellac.
  — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Nov. 2025
• But the biggest lift was the restoration of the wood throughout the house — a job that started by stripping every inch, then adding coats of shellac.
  — Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 7 Oct. 2025
• Meghan is known to wear her nails in a short manicure with a pale pink polish and added two shellac shades from CND.
  — Janine Henni, People.com, 25 Mar. 2025
• The crust will continue to bake, and when it’s finished and cooling, the wayward caramel will harden and coat the crust with a shiny shellac of sweetness.
  — Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 12 Nov. 2025
• Emulsion, oil, acrylic, shellac, gold leaf and sediment of electrolysis on canvas.
  — Mark Whitaker, CBS News, 11 Jan. 2026
• Block and Philpot streets were home to the Lacy Foundry, which made street lamp poles and manhole covers, and to other plants that turned out paint and shellac.
  — Jacques Kelly, baltimoresun.com, 7 Apr. 2018
• Softer brushes, like this one, are better for stains and clear finishes, like varnish, spar varnish, shellac, and brushing lacquers.
  — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 16 Jan. 2019
• The site became industrialized with the Lacy Foundry and industries that made shellac and paint.
  — Jacques Kelly, baltimoresun.com, 15 June 2019
• In the official paperwork, the grants looked like the kind of research efforts the government might be funding; altruism was slapped on like a coat of shellac.
  — Jim Dwyer, New York Times, 13 July 2017
• Nguyen said on Facebook that Stefani received a manicure and pedicure, choosing a neon orange shellac.
  — Ajc Homepage, ajc, 15 July 2017
• Confectioner's glaze, also known as shellac, is made from lac-resin — a waxy, waterproof coating that the female lac bug produces for protection.
  — Greta Cross, USA TODAY, 30 Oct. 2024
• The process required cleaning and hand-sanding every panel and groove, after which Newborg applied a custom shellac and finish.
  — Nancy Ngo, Star Tribune, 30 July 2021
• Confectioner's glaze, also known as shellac, can be made from lac-resin — a waxy, waterproof coating that the female lac bug produces for protection.
  — Greta Cross, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
• But while shellac calls to mind the unglamorous domain of home improvement, lacquer was traditionally a means to create highly detailed works. Lacquer originated in Asia, and many early Indian and Chinese examples are still in existence today.
  — Madeleine Luckel, Vogue, 20 Jan. 2018
• Objects and plants under the tree can be lightly speckled with the shiny drops of honeydew or heavily covered with sugary substance and appear as if covered in shellac.
  — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 13 July 2025
• This contained inorganic pigments in an organic binding medium overlaid by a shellac varnish.
  — The Economist, 8 June 2019
• In 1942, Columbia Records attributed a shortage of shellac to demand for his records.
  — Daniel E. Slotnik, New York Times, 27 Nov. 2022
• 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
• 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, 16 Nov. 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, 13 June 2026
• 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, 11 Jan. 2026

shellac

2 of 2 verb

• We got shellacked in the last election, right?
  — Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 26 June 2026
• Their press-ons are shellacked and combat-ready.
  — Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
• Instead, the union got shellacked.
  — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
• They had been shellacked in some cases, slathered with house paint in others.
  — Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 11 Oct. 2022
• Newsom is a sitting duck waiting to get shellacked.
  — Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 30 Aug. 2025
• Just be sure it's slightly toasted and shellacked with a creamy mayonnaise.
  — Joseph Hernandez, chicagotribune.com, 9 May 2017
• The righthander was shellacked for 10 runs on 11 hits, including two homers.
  — Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Aug. 2023
• Roasted potatoes are shellacked with buttery crumbs.
  — Scott Hocker, TheWeek, 8 June 2026
• Not the kind with bespoke suits and parted, shellacked hair; the kind with his sleeves rolled up, and a pair of beat-up beige sneakers on his feet.
  — Issie Lapowsky, WIRED, 5 June 2018
• With their small heads, shellacked scalps and long necks, the teammates looked elegant and creaturely, like a row of lizards.
  — Lizzie Feidelson, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2017
• To see them as something to be celebrated and embraced, not wiped away or wished away or filled or frozen or shellacked with a primer.
  — Liz Siegel, Allure, 13 Dec. 2017
• The tender vegetables were shellacked in fragrant, feisty pepper paste.
  — Fortune, 14 July 2019
• The hairstyle, known for its round shape, with hair swept off the face and shellacked into place with quite a bit of hair spray, is symbolic of all that is retro.
  — Marisa Meltzer, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2020
• By then, Bolsinger was a middle of the pack reliever with the end of his career in sight, but that shellacking couldn’t have helped.
  — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2020
• And at Etro, lengths were partially shellacked to the face, a thoughtful elevation of the wet-look trend.
  — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 25 Sep. 2023
• The rising temperatures and dry days come on the heels of a springtime snow shellacking on Mount Hood.
  — Jim Ryan, OregonLive.com, 18 May 2017
• The Poopmaster worked great on the ground, but did nothing for the bird poop that shellacked benches and newspaper racks and public art.
  — Kale Williams, OregonLive.com, 7 Feb. 2018
• The gentleman who prepared my freeze applied the toppings gingerly, shellacking one side of the green swirl with tiny cubes of pineapple.
  — Marian Bull, Bon Appetit, 22 Feb. 2017
• It was being shellacked by 46 points and the listless effort from the Kings that made the squad worthy of disparagement.
  — Jason Jones, sacbee, 22 Dec. 2017
• This game was much closer than the 41-17 shellacking the Ravens gave the Browns back in Week 2.
  — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 17 Nov. 2025
• The result was a dispiriting 5-1 shellacking at the hands of a deeply mid Seattle Kraken side.
  — Thomas Drance, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
• Clinton got shellacked, losing the House for the Democrats for the first time since Harry Truman was in office.
  — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, 27 July 2018
• Also noticed was that women's hair was heavy on the metal with thin strands of silvery metal wire woven into long braids on some and gold leaf shellacked like a helmet on others.
  — Adam Tschorn, latimes.com, 17 Apr. 2018
• Slide into a booth and prepare for your taste buds to dance over crusty rosemary and focaccia shellacked with tomato and sea urchin butter, and flaky halibut adorned with marigolds and tangy mushrooms.
  — Kristin Braswell, Travel + Leisure, 5 Jan. 2026
• The Gophers’ undefeated start was their best since 1904, back when the program was shellacking high school teams.
  — Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 6 Dec. 2019
• Pritzker shellacked Bailey in 2022.
  — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025
• For the last decade of the 20th century, the waves were deeper, more defined, and practically shellacked into place, thanks to the advent of firm-hold gels.
  — Jihan Forbes, Allure, 1 Aug. 2023
• But his more moderate colleagues, after witnessing the shellacking the House bill got with the MacArthur amendment, are leery of such a move.
  — Jim Newell, Slate Magazine, 29 June 2017
• Oxblood gator skin seats, plastic mold of a mini 1886 Winchester on the outside of the glove box, shellacked rose rock knob on the shifter, sycamore steering wheel.
  — Hazlitt, 14 June 2023
• The Wolverines were shellacked by Ohio State in the final game of the regular season for the second consecutive year.
  — Orion Sang, Detroit Free Press, 29 Dec. 2019