Although pest control companies offer lethal solutions such as carpenter bee traps or chemical treatments, the best way to keep carpenter bees from bugging you is using stained, sealed, varnished or treated wood in building projects.
—
Sarah Linn
April 24,
Sacbee.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Bringing a top-tier women’s sports event to the country and having its citizens watch women compete represented an opportunity to varnish its human-rights record, which has been criticized by several organizations regarding its treatment of women.
The secret to staying polished on hot, sticky summer days?
—
Jacquelyn McGilvray,
PEOPLE,
6 May 2026
While rivals like the Tacoma and Colorado constantly reinvent themselves, Nissan tends to take the long road by refining, tweaking, and polishing instead of blowing everything up every few years.
National reporters and true crime junkies dug in, while local officials — already lacquered in scandal — looked so crooked a frame job seemed not just possible but probable.
—
Tom Blakely,
Boston Herald,
27 June 2025
The jury is still out on whether pork ribs lacquered in lemongrass barbecue sauce provide spiritual enlightenment, but the tender meat is a master class in balancing sweet and savory.
—
Joseph Hernandez,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
30 May 2025
This leadership follows a congressional report showing foreign adversaries are actively influencing American academia — shining a spotlight on Indiana and Purdue University, in particular, as both a model for reform and a case study in risk.
—
Joe Gebbia Sr,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
People throw rocks at things that shine, and life makes love look hard.
Not to be missed: the steamed crab with glutinous rice, the grains lightly glossed with pork fat, studded with sweet morsels of crab and perfumed with the alluring aroma of wok hei, that smoky kiss from cooking with intense heat.
—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
The easy-to-use glossing treatment, which should be applied to damp hair and followed by a blow dryer to activate the frizz-fighting alpha acids, is a semi-permanent smoothing spray that basically creates a water-resistant shield to prevent flyaways—even in the most humid of places.
Eyuel Tafesse, room operations manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, finishes by lightly buffing cabinets, desks, and drawers to create a soft sheen, often using a polish with a subtle lemon scent that makes the room feel warmer.
—
Colleen Sullivan,
Martha Stewart,
2 May 2026
Define the Cupid’s bow, lightly trace your natural lip shape, and use a fingertip or lip brush to buff the color inward for a soft, diffused blur.
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.