VARNISH • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Varnish

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/vˈɑrnɪʃ/ Listen

noun

Varnish n.

A viscid liquid, consisting of a solution of resinous matter in an oil or a volatile liquid, laid on work with a brush, or otherwise. When applied the varnish soon dries, either by evaporation or chemical action, and the resinous part forms thus a smooth, hard surface, with a beautiful gloss, capable of resisting, to a greater or less degree, the influences of air and moisture. Note: According to the sorts of solvents employed, the ordinary kinds of varnish are divided into three classes: spirit, turpentine, and oil varnishes.

That which resembles varnish, either naturally or artificially; a glossy appearance. "The varnish of the holly and ivy."

An artificial covering to give a fair appearance to any act or conduct; outside show; gloss. "And set a double varnish on the fame The Frenchman gave you."

Varnish tree (Bot.), a tree or shrub from the juice or resin of which varnish is made, as some species of the genus Rhus, especially Rhus vernicifera of Japan. The black varnish of Burmah is obtained from the Melanorrhoea usitatissima, a tall East Indian tree of the Cashew family. See Copal, and Mastic.

verb

Varnish v. t. (past & past part. varnished; pres. part. varnishing)

To lay varnish on; to cover with a liquid which produces, when dry, a hard, glossy surface; as, to varnish a table; to varnish a painting.

To cover or conceal with something that gives a fair appearance; to give a fair coloring to by words; to gloss over; to palliate; as, to varnish guilt. "Beauty doth varnish age." "Close ambition, varnished o'er with zeal." "Cato's voice was ne'er employed To clear the guilty and to varnish crimes."

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Etymology of 'Varnish'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Varnish" Quotes from Famous Books

... contain the figures to be exhibited, and in these light parts the glass is covered with a more or less transparent tint, according to the effect required. The easiest way is to draw the figures with water colors on thin paper and afterward varnish them. To imitate the natural motions of the objects represented, several pieces of glass placed behind each other are occasionally employed. By removing the lantern to different distances, and at the same time altering, more or less distinct, at the pleasure of ...

— Entertainments for Home, Church and School • Frederica Seeger

... of wood, and every board had been made ready by his own hands, and set in the sun and dried slowly to a healthy soundness; and he used no nails of metal, but wooden pins of the iron-wood or hickory tree, and it was all polished, and there was no paint or varnish anywhere; and when you spoke in this nest your voice sounded pure ...

— The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker

... mode of completing the curing process has some advantages over the other, as by it the meat is subject to the action of creosote, a volatile oil produced by the combustion of the sawdust, which is powerfully antiseptic. The process also furnishing a thin covering of a resinous varnish, excludes the air not only from the muscle but also from the fat; thus effectually preventing the meat from becoming rusted; and the principal reasons for condemning the practice of removing the ribs from the flitches of pork are, that by so doing the meat ...

— The Book of Household Management • Mrs. Isabella Beeton

... knee. The metal of each was tarnished out of knowledge. But the trumpet was evidently an old cavalry trumpet, and the threads of its party-colored sling, though fretted and dusty, still hung together. Around the side-drum, beneath its cracked brown varnish. I could hardly trace a royal coat-of-arms and a legend running, "Per Mare Per Terrain"—the motto of the marines. Its parchment, though black and scented with wood-smoke, was limp and mildewed; and I began to tighten up the straps—under which the drumsticks had been loosely ...

— The Roll-Call Of The Reef • A. T. Quiller-Couch (AKA "Q.")

... nose again and stirred the varnish round and round in its little saucer with his piece of sponge and took to his whistling in a whisper for a few moments. Then he says "You would call it a ...

— Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings • Charles Dickens

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