shellac

American  

[shuh-lak] / ʃəˈlæk /

Or shellack

noun

1. lac that has been purified and formed into thin sheets, used for making varnish shellac varnish by dissolving it in alcohol or a similar solvent.

2. formerly, a phonograph record made of a breakable material containing shellac, especially one to be played at 78 r.p.m..

   In the antique shop I found a stack of old shellacs with recordings of great wartime classics.

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verb (used with object)

shellacked, shellacking

1. to coat or treat with shellac.

2. Slang.

   1. to defeat; trounce.

   2. to thrash soundly.

shellac British  

/ ˈʃɛlæk, ʃəˈlæk /

noun

1. a yellowish resin secreted by the lac insect, esp a commercial preparation of this used in varnishes, polishes, and leather dressings

2. Also called: shellac varnish.  a varnish made by dissolving shellac in ethanol or a similar solvent

3. a gramophone record based on shellac

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verb

1. to coat or treat (an article) with a shellac varnish

2. slang to defeat completely

Other Word Forms

• shellacker noun

Etymology

Origin of shellac

First recorded in 1705–15; shell + lac ¹, translation of French laque en écailles “lac in thin plates”

Example Sentences

It took the combination of shellac discs, electronic amplification and an automatic record-changer for National Automatic Music Company to manufacture the first 20-song multiplay machines in 1927.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

Human societies have used plastics that occur naturally in the environment for hundreds of years, in the form of rubber, horn and shellac.

From BBC • Aug. 5, 2025

Another of them, rendered almost invisibly in shellac on deep cobalt blue moiré, circles around to give the exhibition its trenchant title: “Now then, as I was about to say …”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2024

For a decade, he lived rent-free in a warehouse crammed with 20 artists, the smell of paint and shellac commingling with fumes from plastic melted by a businessman making toys.

From New York Times • Sep. 22, 2022

Outside’s been dunked in a bucket of shiny clear shellac.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett