Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Varnish

Var′nish (·nĭsh), n. [OE. vernish, F. vernis, LL. vernicium; akin to F. vernir to varnish, fr. (assumed) LL. vitrinire to glaze, from LL. vitrinus glassy, fr. L. vitrum glass. See Vitreous.]

1. 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.

☞ According to the sorts of solvents employed, the ordinary kinds of varnish are divided into three classes: spirit, turpentine, and oil varnishes. Encyc. Brit

2. That which resembles varnish, either naturally or artificially; a glossy appearance.

The varnish of the holly and ivy. Macaulay.

3. 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. Shak.

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 R. vernicifera of Japan. The black varnish of Burmah is obtained from the Melanorrhœa usitatissima, a tall East Indian tree of the Cashew family. See Copal, and Mastic.

Var′nish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Varnished; p. pr. & vb. n. Varnishing.] [Cf. F. vernir, vernisser. See Varnish, n.]

1. 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.

2. 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." Shak.

Close ambition, varnished o'er with zeal. Milton.

Cato's voice was ne'er employed To clear the guilty and to varnish crimes. Addison.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.