lacquer

noun

• 1a liquid made of shellac dissolved in alcohol, or of synthetic substances, that dries to form a hard protective coating for wood, metal, etc.: shot-blasted mild steel finished in grey mottled epoxy lacquer [count noun]:canned lacquers which dry by solvent evaporation

• 2the sap of the lacquer tree used as a varnish.
• decorative wooden articles coated with lacquer: [as modifier]:a lacquer box

• 3 (also hair lacquer) a chemical substance sprayed on hair to keep it in place: rows of peroxide curls rigid with lacquer

verb

• 1coat with lacquer:a small lacquered table

• 2spray (the hair) with lacquer: a stocky man with a lacquered helmet of black hair