Japan /(jȧ*păn")/

Ja·pan

Japan

n.
  1. Work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner; also, the varnish or lacquer used in japanning.

Japan

a.
  1. Of or pertaining to Japan, or to the lacquered work of that country; as, Japan ware.

Phrases & Compounds
Japan allspice
a spiny shrub from Japan (Chimonanthus fragrans), related to the Carolina allspice.
Japan black
a quickly drying black lacquer or varnish, consisting essentially of asphaltum dissolved in naphtha or turpentine, and used for coating ironwork; -- called also Brunswick black, Japan lacquer, or simply Japan.
Japan camphor
ordinary camphor brought from China or Japan, as distinguished from the rare variety called borneol or Borneo camphor.
Japan clover
a cloverlike plant (Lespedeza striata) from Eastern Asia, useful for fodder, first noticed in the Southern United States about 1860, but now become very common. During the Civil War it was called variously Yankee clover and Rebel clover.
Japan earth
See Catechu.
Japan ink
a kind of writing ink, of a deep, glossy black when dry.
Japan varnish
a varnish prepared from the milky juice of the Rhus vernix, a small Japanese tree related to the poison sumac.

Japan

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Japanned; p. pr. & vb. n. Japanning

  1. To cover with a coat of hard, brilliant varnish, in the manner of the Japanese; to lacquer.
  2. To give a glossy black to, as shoes. [R.]