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Webster 1913 Edition

Wax

Wax

(wăks)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp.
Waxed
;
p. p.
Waxed
, and
Obs.
or
Poetic
Waxen
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Waxing
.]
[AS.
weaxan
; akin to OFries.
waxa
, D.
wassen
, OS. & OHG.
wahsan
, G.
wachsen
, Icel.
vaxa
, Sw.
växa
, Dan.
voxe
, Goth.
wahsjan
, Gr. [GREEK] to increase, Skr.
waksh
,
uksh
, to grow. √135. Cf.
Waist
.]
1.
To increase in size; to grow bigger; to become larger or fuller; – opposed to wane.
The
waxing
and the waning of the moon.
Hakewill.
Truth’s treasures . . . never shall
wax
ne wane.
P. Plowman.
2.
To pass from one state to another; to become; to grow;
as, to
wax
strong; to
wax
warmer or colder; to
wax
feeble; to
wax
old; to
wax
worse and worse.
Your clothes are not
waxen
old upon you.
Deut. xxix. 5.
Where young Adonis oft reposes,
Waxing
well of his deep wound.
Milton.
Waxing kernels
(Med.)
,
small tumors formed by the enlargement of the lymphatic glands, especially in the groins of children; – popularly so called, because supposed to be caused by growth of the body.
Dunglison.

Wax

,
Noun.
[AS.
weax
; akin to OFries.
wax
, D.
was
, G.
wachs
, OHG.
wahs
, Icel. & Sw.
vax
, Dan.
vox
, Lith.
vaszkas
, Russ.
vosk'
.]
1.
A fatty, solid substance, produced by bees, and employed by them in the construction of their comb; – usually called
beeswax
. It is first excreted, from a row of pouches along their sides, in the form of scales, which, being masticated and mixed with saliva, become whitened and tenacious. Its natural color is pale or dull yellow.
☞ Beeswax consists essentially of cerotic acid (constituting the more soluble part) and of myricyl palmitate (constituting the less soluble part).
2.
Hence, any substance resembling beeswax in consistency or appearance.
Specifically: –
(a)
(Physiol.)
Cerumen, or earwax.
See
Cerumen
.
(b)
A waxlike composition used for uniting surfaces, for excluding air, and for other purposes;
as, sealing
wax
, grafting
wax
, etching
wax
, etc
.
(c)
A waxlike composition used by shoemakers for rubbing their thread.
(d)
(Zool.)
A substance similar to beeswax, secreted by several species of scale insects, as the Chinese wax. See
Wax insect
, below.
(e)
(Bot.)
A waxlike product secreted by certain plants. See
Vegetable wax
, under
Vegetable
.
(f)
(Min.)
A substance, somewhat resembling wax, found in connection with certain deposits of rock salt and coal; – called also mineral wax, and ozocerite.
(g)
Thick sirup made by boiling down the sap of the sugar maple, and then cooling.
[Local U. S.]
Japanese wax
,
a waxlike substance made in Japan from the berries of certain species of
Rhus
, esp.
Rhus succedanea
.
–
Mineral wax
.
(Min.)
See
Wax
, 2
(f)
, above.
–
Wax cloth
.
See
Waxed cloth
, under
Waxed
.
–
Wax end
.
See
Waxed end
, under
Waxed
.
–
Wax flower
,
a flower made of, or resembling, wax.
–
Wax insect
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of scale insects belonging to the family
Coccidae
, which secrete from their bodies a waxlike substance, especially the Chinese wax insect (
Coccus Sinensis
) from which a large amount of the commercial Chinese wax is obtained. Called also
pela
.
–
Wax light
,
a candle or taper of wax.
–
Wax moth
(Zool.)
,
a pyralid moth (
Galleria cereana
) whose larvae feed upon honeycomb, and construct silken galleries among the fragments. The moth has dusky gray wings streaked with brown near the outer edge. The larva is yellowish white with brownish dots. Called also
bee moth
.
–
Wax myrtle
.
(Bot.)
See
Bayberry
.
–
Wax painting
,
a kind of painting practiced by the ancients, under the name of encaustic. The pigments were ground with wax, and diluted. After being applied, the wax was melted with hot irons and the color thus fixed.
–
Wax palm
.
(Bot.)
(a)
A species of palm (
Ceroxylon Andicola
) native of the Andes, the stem of which is covered with a secretion, consisting of two thirds resin and one third wax, which, when melted with a third of fat, makes excellent candles.
(b)
A Brazilian tree (
Copernicia cerifera
) the young leaves of which are covered with a useful waxy secretion.
–
Wax paper
,
paper prepared with a coating of white wax and other ingredients.
–
Wax plant
(Bot.)
,
a name given to several plants
, as:
(a)
The Indian pipe (see under
Indian
).
(b)
The
Hoya carnosa
, a climbing plant with polished, fleshy leaves.
(c)
Certain species of
Begonia
with similar foliage.
–
Wax tree
(Bot.)
(a)
A tree or shrub (
Ligustrum lucidum
) of China, on which certain insects make a thick deposit of a substance resembling white wax.
(b)
A kind of sumac (
Rhus succedanea
) of Japan, the berries of which yield a sort of wax.
(c)
A rubiaceous tree (
Elaeagia utilis
) of New Grenada, called by the inhabitants “arbol del cera.”
–
Wax yellow
,
a dull yellow, resembling the natural color of beeswax.

Wax

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Waxed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Waxing
.]
To smear or rub with wax; to treat with wax;
as, to
wax
a thread or a table
.
Waxed cloth
,
cloth covered with a coating of wax, used as a cover, of tables and for other purposes; – called also
wax cloth
.
–
Waxed end
,
a thread pointed with a bristle and covered with shoemaker's wax, used in sewing leather, as for boots, shoes, and the like; – called also
wax end
.
Brockett.

Webster 1828 Edition

Wax

WAX

,
Noun.
[G., L.]
1.
A thick, viscid, tenacious substance, collected by bees, or excreted from their bodies, and employed in the construction of their cells; usually called bees wax. Its native color is yellow, but it is bleached for candles, &c.
2.
A thick tenacious substance excreted in the ear.
3.
A substance secreted by certain plants, forming a silvery powder on the leaves and fruit, as in the wax-palm and wax-myrtle.
4.
A substance found on the hinder legs of bees, which is supposed to be their food.
5.
A substance used in sealing letters; called sealing-wax, or Spanish wax. This is a composition of gum-lacca and resin, colored with some pigment.
6.
A thick substance used by shoemakers for rubbing their thread.

WAX

,
Verb.
T.
To smear or rub with wax; as, to wax, a thread or a table.

WAX

,
Verb.
I.
pret. waxed.; pp. waxed or waxen. [G., L., Gr.]
1.
To increase in size; to grow; to become larger; as the waxing and the waning moon.
2.
To pass from one state to another; to become; as, to wax strong; to wax warm or cold; to wax feeble; to wax hot; to wax old; to wax worse and worse.

Definition 2024

wax

wax

English

Beeswax, a kind of wax

Noun

wax ‎(countable and uncountable, plural waxes)

  1. Beeswax.
  2. Earwax.
    What role does the wax in your earhole fulfill?‎
  3. Any oily, water-resistant substance; normally long-chain hydrocarbons, alcohols or esters.
  4. Any preparation containing wax, used as a polish.
  5. (uncountable) The phonograph record format for music.
  6. (US, dialect) A thick syrup made by boiling down the sap of the sugar maple and then cooling it.
  7. (US, slang) A type of drugs with as main ingredients weed oil and butane; hash oil
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Adjective

wax ‎(not comparable)

  1. Made of wax.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.
Synonyms
Derived terms

See under the noun section above

Translations

Verb

wax ‎(third-person singular simple present waxes, present participle waxing, simple past and past participle waxed)

  1. (transitive) To apply wax to (something, such as a shoe, a floor, a car, or an apple), usually to make it shiny.
  2. (transitive) To remove hair at the roots from (a part of the body) by coating the skin with a film of wax that is then pulled away sharply.
  3. (transitive, informal) To defeat utterly.
  4. (transitive, slang) To kill, especially to murder a person.
    • 2005, David L. Robbins, Liberation Road: A Novel of World War II and the Red Ball Express, page 83:
      "I was reassigned over from the 9th when the battalion CO got waxed on the road leading in." Ben kept his dismay to himself. Here was one more officer in the 90th who'd been on the job only hours or days, replacing commanders killed or wounded....
    • 2009, Dean R. Koontz and Ed Gorman, Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: City of Night, ISBN 9780553593334, page 106:
      "You telling me you know who really waxed him and your mom?" / "Yeah," she lied. / "Just who pulled the trigger or who ordered it to be pulled?"
  5. (transitive, archaic, usually of a musical or oral performance) To record. [from 1900]
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English waxen, from Old English weaxan ‎(“to wax, grow, be fruitful, increase, become powerful, flourish”), from Proto-Germanic *wahsijaną ‎(“to grow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weg- ‎(“to grow, increase”). Cognate with Scots wax ‎(“to grow”), West Frisian waakse ‎(“to grow”), Low German wassen, Dutch wassen ‎(“to grow”), German wachsen ‎(“to grow”), Danish and Norwegian vokse ‎(“to grow”), Swedish växa ‎(“to grow”), Icelandic vaxa ‎(“to grow”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌷𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 ‎(wahsjan, “to grow”); and with Ancient Greek ἀέξειν ‎(aéxein), Latin auxilium. It is in its turn cognate with augeo. See eke.

Verb

wax ‎(third-person singular simple present waxes, present participle waxing, simple past waxed or (archaic) wex, past participle waxed or (dialectal, archaic) waxen)

  1. (intransitive, with adjective) To increasingly assume the specified characteristic, become.
    to wax lyrical;  to wax eloquent;  to wax wode‎
    • 1885, H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines, page 72:
      The stars grew pale and paler still till at last they vanished; the golden moon waxed wan, and her mountain ridges stood out against her sickly face.
  2. (intransitive, literary) To grow.
    • c. 1590-97, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, II, i
      And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,
      And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
      A merrier hour was never wasted there.
    • 1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 1, sc. 3, lines 11-14,
      For nature, crescent, does not grow alone
      In thews and bulks, but, as this temple waxes,
      The inward service of the mind and soul
      Grows wide withal.
    • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
      And so it had always pleased M. Stutz to expect great things from the dark young man whom he had first seen in his early twenties ; and his expectations had waxed rather than waned on hearing the faint bruit of the love of Ivor and Virginia—for Virginia, M. Stutz thought, would bring fineness to a point in a man like Ivor Marlay, […].
  3. (intransitive, of the moon) To appear larger each night as a progression from a new moon to a full moon.
Usage notes
  • Older forms are: 2nd per. sing, waxest (archaic), 3rd per. sing. waxeth (archaic), and plural form waxen (obsolete).
  • Alternative simple past form is wex (obsolete) and the alternative past participle is waxen (obsolete).
Synonyms
  • (to assume specified characteristic): become
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Noun

wax ‎(uncountable)

  1. (rare) The process of growing.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain; probably from phrases like to wax angry, wax wode, and similar (see Etymology 2, above).

Noun

wax ‎(plural waxes)

  1. (dated, colloquial) An outburst of anger.
    • 1970, John Glassco, Memoirs of Montparnasse, New York 2007, page 161:
      ‘That's him to a T,’ she would murmur; or, ‘Just wait till he reads this’; or, ‘Ah, won't that put him in a wax!’
Derived terms

See also

  • waxen-kernel
  • waxloke

Somali

Noun

wax ?

  1. something

Etymology

From Old English wæx, from Proto-Germanic *wahsą, from Proto-Indo-European *wokso-. Cognate with Dutch was, German Wachs, Norwegian voks; and with Lithuanian vaškas, Proto-Slavic *voskъ ‎(“wax”).

Pronunciation

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