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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Recent Examples of shellac
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
Instead, the union got shellacked.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium* The Colts, before collapsing, arguably had their best game of their season in the opener against the Dolphins, a 33-8 shellacking in Indiana.
—Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 5 Jan. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for shellac
Thomas Drance, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Instead, the union got shellacked.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium* The Colts, before collapsing, arguably had their best game of their season in the opener against the Dolphins, a 33-8 shellacking in Indiana.
—Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 5 Jan. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for shellac
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shellac
Verb
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Timeline Monday, May 26-Tuesday, May 27On Monday, the 84%-lit waxing gibbous moon moves eastward into Virgo, heading toward bright star Spica.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2026
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The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar in which months last either 29 or 30 days, depending on the sighting of the waxing crescent moon.—
Charles Preston,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
22 May 2026
Verb
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Repeat this layering process, starting with cookies, then cream, twice, ending with the cream mixture.—
Nancy Vienneau,
Southern Living,
17 May 2026
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And butter cakes, on the other hand, start with creaming the fat and sugar together.—
Emily Elias,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
14 May 2026
Verb
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Two notable exceptions are Sednaya Military Prison, which was looted and partially closed, and Tadmur Military Prison, which was partly demolished by ISIS and then bombed.—
Amer Matar,
The Dial,
26 May 2026
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Many Shia elites, including paramilitary leaders, showed no desire to abandon their second lives of comfort and state largesse, even as Iran was being bombed during the 12-Day War in June 2025.—
Nabil Salih,
Time,
26 May 2026
Verb
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The judge stressed the narrow grounds on which an arbitration award can be vacated and concluded Tatis failed to offer a valid reason to overcome that standard of review.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
26 May 2026
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Hutson, to his credit, doesn’t seem to be overcome by frustration at this point.—
James Mirtle,
New York Times,
26 May 2026
Verb
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In baseball news, Screencaps the III got his very first legitimate hit of the season by lacing one over the second baseman's head last night with winds whipping 20-25 mph off Lake Erie.—
Joe Kinsey OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
22 May 2026
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When Djena neglected to do a chore, Denise would use a belt or a power cord to whip Djena, leaving her covered in bruises.—
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
Verb
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Amid the chaos, Rai found a father burying his infant child, no more than a year or two old, in the shallow dirt.—
Taran Dugal,
New Yorker,
23 May 2026
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The one and only hairless dog The research team recovered 341 bones from 19 hairless dogs, including a 6- to 8-week-old puppy buried with one of the elite craftsmen.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
23 May 2026
Verb
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This led to the cutting and pasting practice whereby smaller rural or town newspapers borrowed from the larger newspapers in urban centers.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
26 May 2026
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The fix is to weave conversation into the experience instead of pasting a clone on top.—
Lutz Finger,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2026
Verb
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All of the carcasses that washed ashore had been skinned, Cole said, with some missing their front paws.—
Francie Ebert,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
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In tight spaces where a straight driver can't complete a full rotation, that elbow geometry is the difference between finishing the job and abandoning it after hurting your wrist, skinning your knuckles, and questioning your life choices.—
Omar Kardoudi
March 05,
New Atlas,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shellac.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shellac. Accessed 29 May. 2026.
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