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shellac

 [shuh-lak]   Origin

shel·lac

   [shuh-lak] noun, verb, shel·lacked, shel·lack·ing.
noun
1.
lac that has been purified and formed into thin sheets, used for making varnish.
2.
a varnish (shellac varnish) made by dissolving this material in alcohol or a similar solvent.
3.
a phonograph record made of a breakable material containing shellac, especially one to be played at 78 r.p.m.: an LP that can hold nearly 10 times as much as the old shellac.
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verb (used with object)
4.
to coat or treat with shellac.
5.
Slang.
a.
to defeat; trounce.
b.
to thrash soundly.

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Shellac is always a great word to know.
So is racket. Does it mean:
an easy or profitable source of livelihood of dubious legality
a quarrel or squabble
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Also, shel·lack.

Origin:
1705–15; shell + lac1, translation of French laque en écailles lac in thin plates
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
shellac (ʃəˈlæk, ˈʃɛlæk)
 
—n
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
 
—vb , -lacs, -lacking, -lacked
4.  to coat or treat (an article) with a shellac varnish
5.  slang (US) to defeat completely
 
[C18: shell + lac1, translation of French laque en écailles, literally: lac in scales, that is, in thin plates]
 
shel'lacker
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

shellac
1713, from shell + lac (see lacquer). Translates Fr. laque en écailles "lac in thin plates." The verb is 1876, from the noun. The slang sense of "beat soundly" is 1920s, perhaps from the notion of shellac as a "finish." Shellacked "drunk" is from 1922 (cf. plastered).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

shellac definition

[ʃəˈlæk]
  1. tv.
    to beat someone; to outscore someone. (See also shellacked; shellacking.) : We're gonna shellac those bums Friday night.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

shellac

commercial resin marketed in the form of amber flakes, made from the secretions of the lac insect, a tiny scale insect, Laccifer lacca (see lac). Shellac is a natural thermoplastic; that is, a material that is soft and flows under pressure when heated but becomes rigid at room temperature. This property makes it useful either by itself or in combination with such fillers as flaked mica and asbestos in manufactured molding compositions, used for producing molded articles such as buttons

Learn more about shellac with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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