as in to wax
to defeat by a large margin
the local football team was shellacked 35-0 in their final outing for the season
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shellac
Zverev has intermittently heeded the advice, but his last match before the start of the Tour Finals ended in a 6-0, 6-1 shellacking by Sinner, aggravated by swelling in his right ankle.
—
Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
And it certainly can be noticed, both in its abundance, and in the case of the Warriors’ 129-104 shellacking on Friday night at the hands of the Nuggets in an Emirates Cup group stage matchup, in its absence.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025
While Cincinnati’s visit to Detroit was one of the more intriguing matchups on the fall calendar, the loss of Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ subsequent 48-10 shellacking under the horns of the Vikings have made the team a liability of sorts.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for shellac
Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
And it certainly can be noticed, both in its abundance, and in the case of the Warriors’ 129-104 shellacking on Friday night at the hands of the Nuggets in an Emirates Cup group stage matchup, in its absence.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025
While Cincinnati’s visit to Detroit was one of the more intriguing matchups on the fall calendar, the loss of Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ subsequent 48-10 shellacking under the horns of the Vikings have made the team a liability of sorts.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Oct. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for shellac
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shellac
Verb
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Compared to the 29 points and six rebounds that Reaves produced – along with drawing the arguably game-sealing charge that fouled out Clippers guard Bennedict Mathurin – Smart had little to wax over.—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
21 Feb. 2026
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His voice waxed poetic about Louisiana and its beauty while also critiquing the cliches rendered as the only acceptable terms to discuss a place that exceeds description.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Perfect for pairing with a trip through their enormous salad bar and a scoop of mashed potatoes and creamed spinach (and timberline chili and mac and cheese), and one of their famous yeasty dinner rolls slathered with honey butter.—
Melissa Locker,
Southern Living,
16 Feb. 2026
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Next, cream the butter and sugar in a mixer, about three minutes on medium speed.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Ukrainian pianist and composer Vadim Neselovskyi was born in Odesa, a city that Russia has repeatedly bombed since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
25 Feb. 2026
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Their fear for their own lives was eclipsed by an urgent sense of responsibility toward the civilians being starved and bombed to death.—
Yousra Elbagir,
Time,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In their recusal motion aimed at the prosecutor, the defense lawyers had to overcome a high bar to prevail.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
24 Feb. 2026
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To reach the state meet, Riley Kongkaeow has had to overcome an injury that limited her to 22 matches.—
Bobby Narang,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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They were instead captured and publicly whipped.—
Madison Dapcevich,
Outside,
19 Feb. 2026
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Those who observe Lent will spend the next several Fridays whipping out fish recipes or attending a fish fry and abstaining from eating meat.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Tuesday, when dispatchers received a call that multiple skiers had been buried.—
Michael McGough,
Sacbee.com,
22 Feb. 2026
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In Monkayo, a gold-mining town in Davao de Oro province near Davao Oriental, the remains of three people were recovered after their house was buried late Thursday by a landslide, Dayanghirang and other officials said.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Some of these trolls are merely pasting swastikas on their nihilism, but their ideological sincerity is irrelevant.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
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Otlet first experimented with cutting lines out of books and pasting them onto index cards.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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From there, several clusters of yams made their way into the kitchen, where they were washed and skinned, revealing the white starchy insides.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 Feb. 2026
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The sport, therefore, has a strong relationship with the military, with troops in such environments regularly skinning up mountains before skiing back down.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
18 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shellac.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shellac. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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