shellack, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

shellack v.

[SE shellac, to coat or varnish with shellac; note Dennis Wilson on American Dialect Society List (Internet, 14/11/02: ‘Here are my guesses; I find any of them plausible, or a combination. (1) Derivative of German “schlagen” (= “strike”) or equivalent. Cf. supposed etymology of “schlock” (from Yiddish). Cf. “Our team really got clobbered”, “I really got hammered on schnapps last night”, “They really gave him a pounding”. (2) Onomatopoeic (cf. “smack”, “whack” etc). (3) [The books seem to favor this one] Shellacking being the last step in finishing something; thus something shellacked is something completed, something which has been “finished off”’]

lit. and fig., to beat, to thrash, to punish; thus shellacker n.

1923		Hartford Courant 25 June 12: [headline] LUQUE'S STREAK ENDS WHEN CUBS SHELLAC REDS, 2 TO 0.
1924		Hartford Courant 15: [headline] Giants beat Reds in ninth; Cubs shellac Boston Braves.
1924		Eve. Tribune (Providence, RI) 3 June n.p.: When the opportunity came in the third he took full advantage of it and shellacked Norton plenty, ripping both hands to the mid-section with much power behind each drive.
1928		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 72: After Tunney shellacked him in the Windy City, Dempsey put on his kelly, fixed his collar and retired from the turf.
1939		Howsley Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl. 44: shellack – to beat up.
1943		Western Daily Press (Exeter) 18 Sept. 6/2: We have given the U-boats a good shellackin.
		‘Digg Mee’ ‘Observation Post’ in N.Y. Age 31 Aug. 10/5: He shellacked his wife...do you blame the guy?
1944		D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 35: The bombs are shellacking the surrounding buildings.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 86: I’d seen a bloke once after a push had shellacked him, and a junk man wouldn’t have given two bob for him.
1964		B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 146: Say, there was asshole shellackers and shitpackers / and freaks who drunk blood from a menstruatin’ womb.
1979		T. Alibrandi Killshot 59: Possibly getting shellacked by Coldiron had started his fuse burning.
1986		S. King It (1987) 272: When the Washington Senators kicked off the baseball season (usually getting themselves shellacked in the process).
1999		Tallahassee Democrat (FL) 25 June 12/1: Managers learn that there’s more to their trade than giving a steal sign or pulling a tired pitcher before he’s shellacked.
2005		Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) 31 Aug. D05/4: He was shellacked for 10 hits and six runs.
2010		Springfield News (MO) 11 Nov. 23/5: He’s so shifty and low to the ground [...] and tough enough to shake it off if he gets shellacked.