Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VAR'NISH, v.t. [Fr. vernisser, vernir.]

1. To lay varnish on; to cover with a liquid, for giving any thing a glossy surface; as, to varnish a sideboard or table.
2. To cover with something that gives a fair external appearance. Close ambition, varnish'd o'er with zeal. – Milton.
3. To give a fair external appearance in words; to give fair coloring to; as, to vanish errors or deformity. Cato's voice was ne'er employ'd / To clear the guilty, and to varnish crimes. – Addison. And bow the knee to pomp that loves to varnish guilt. – Byron.