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wax
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
wax
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
sealing wax
the moon waxes (=gets bigger each night)
▪ The moon waxed larger over the next few days.
waxed paper
wax/polish the floor
▪ I washed and waxed the kitchen floor.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
hot
▪ Baldness is not only sexy, it is aerodynamic. Hot wax your head for maximum performance.
▪ It was a tactic as smooth and sleek as hot wax on tender skin.
▪ Cool waxing is said to be quickest, but advocates of hot wax say that it is much more efficient.
▪ He also suggested hot wax dripped on the wound.
■ NOUN
candle
▪ I stared wonderingly at the small, wax candle which I had thrown on to the floor of my chamber.
▪ I remember it being dark-beamed with windows high in the wall and wax candles already lit.
▪ Firelight reflecting, Red wax candles, Treble voiced choirboys, Spicy hot pies.
paper
▪ How about the crinkling of Cellophane or the more muted wax paper?
▪ Grease two 9-inch layer-cake pans, line bottoms with wax paper and grease paper.
▪ Transfer butter to a sheet of wax paper, spreading butter out to form a rough log shape.
▪ Cover top of colander with wax paper and set over sink to drain 24 hours.
▪ The sky has colored pallid blue straight above, like some wax paper sea.
▪ Sift flour, baking powder and salt on to wax paper.
▪ The sticky buns, wrapped in two wax papers, went into his coat pocket.
▪ His skin gets all crinkly, like wax paper or something.
paraffin
▪ After being grafted, the joints are dipped into paraffin wax for protection.
▪ Boot leathers are usually chrome tanned then impregnated with a mixture of paraffin wax and paraffin oil.
▪ The biopsy specimens were fixed in Carnoy's fixative overnight and embedded in paraffin wax.
▪ Exposed surfaces of glass slides, especially the undersides, should be painted with paraffin wax before placing in the container.
▪ Twelve sections were cut from each formalin fixed paraffin wax embedded block at a thickness of 3 µm.
▪ Biopsy tissues were fixed in buffered formalin and processed routinely through paraffin wax, ensuring optimal orientation at the embedding stage.
▪ The specimens were fixed overnight in neutral buffered 10% formalin and embedded in paraffin wax.
▪ Leiden is very similar to Gouda and is generally sold in the same yellow paraffin wax coating.
seal
▪ Out of curiosity, he caught one as it flew past his head, broke the wax seal, and unrolled the paper.
■ VERB
wane
▪ Over the years, there have been fundamental shifts in policy and strategy as attitudes toward the rural poor wax and wane.
▪ Is it present constantly, does the sensation wax and wane, or does it come in acute attacks?
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
the whole ball of wax
▪ Benton is in charge of marketing, personnel, sales - the whole ball of wax.
▪ There are two games left for the whole ball of wax.
▪ They are responsible for the whole ball of wax; every-thing.
wax lyrical
▪ Krzyzewski waxed lyrical on his team's winning effort.
▪ Before waxing lyrical about types of communication we need firstly to appreciate the uniqueness of the hotel environment.
▪ In the pub, beer glass in hand, he waxed lyrical about how he would spend his earnings.
▪ Marie Claire devoted last October's issue to the disease, and carried photos of topless celebrities waxing lyrical about their assets.
▪ They waxed lyrical on the virtues of introducing business-like methods and improving resource management.
▪ You're waxing lyrical about the M25 and the hopelessness of building more roads.
▪ You didn't even wax lyrical about the incredibly romantic island we could see from the cliff-top at the cape.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ We put a layer of wax down on the floor.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Christmas ribbon and wax fruit can be added for colour.
▪ Posed him in a uniform with a musket in front of a wax image of General Washington.
▪ The solid wax gives heavier protection.
▪ We also lost many recordings: the wax masters could be broken.
II.verb
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Bricks should be sealed with a masonry stabiliser, while wood should be waxed, varnished or painted.
▪ Domestic Edam cheeses are waxed or have other tightly adhering coating that may be red or another color.
▪ He had not the stomach, literally, to wax serious about such things today.
▪ Other than the dark, waxed limousine, the space was devoid of furniture.
▪ Price-sensitivity is waxing and brand-loyalty waning.
▪ Silent Scream attempts to do the same for Larry Winters, a Glaswegian murderer who waxed poetic behind bars before topping himself.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Wax

Wax \Wax\, v. 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.

Wax

Wax \Wax\, n. [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.

    Note: 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:

    1. (Physiol.) Cerumen, or earwax. See Cerumen.

    2. A waxlike composition used for uniting surfaces, for excluding air, and for other purposes; as, sealing wax, grafting wax, etching wax, etc.

    3. A waxlike composition used by shoemakers for rubbing their thread.

    4. (Zo["o]l.) A substance similar to beeswax, secreted by several species of scale insects, as the Chinese wax. See Wax insect, below.

    5. (Bot.) A waxlike product secreted by certain plants. See Vegetable wax, under Vegetable.

    6. (Min.) A substance, somewhat resembling wax, found in connection with certain deposits of rock salt and coal; -- called also mineral wax, and ozocerite.

    7. Thick sirup made by boiling down the sap of the sugar maple, and then cooling. [Local U. S.]

    8. any of numerous substances or mixtures composed predominantly of the longer-chain saturated hydrocarbons such as the paraffins, which are solid at room teperature, or their alcohol, carboxylic acid, or ester derivatives. 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 (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of scale insects belonging to the family Coccid[ae], 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 (Zo["o]l.), a pyralid moth ( Galleria cereana) whose larv[ae] 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.)

      1. 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.

      2. 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:

        1. The Indian pipe (see under Indian).

        2. The Hoya carnosa, a climbing plant with polished, fleshy leaves.

      3. Certain species of Begonia with similar foliage. Wax tree (Bot.)

        1. A tree or shrub ( Ligustrum lucidum) of China, on which certain insects make a thick deposit of a substance resembling white wax.

        2. A kind of sumac ( Rhus succedanea) of Japan, the berries of which yield a sort of wax.

        3. A rubiaceous tree ( El[ae]agia utilis) of New Grenada, called by the inhabitants ``arbol del cera.''

          Wax yellow, a dull yellow, resembling the natural color of beeswax.

Wax

Wax \Wax\ (w[a^]ks), v. 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. v["a]xa, Dan. voxe, Goth. wahsjan, Gr. ? to increase, Skr. waksh, uksh, to grow.

  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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
wax

Old English weax "substance made by bees," from Proto-Germanic *wahsam (cognates: Old Saxon, Old High German wahs, Old Norse vax, Dutch was, German Wachs), from PIE root *wokso- "wax" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic voskŭ, Lithuanian vaškas, Polish wosk, Russian vosk "wax" (but these may be from Germanic). Used of other similar substances from 18c. Slang for "gramophone record" is from 1932, American English (until the early 1940s, most original records were made by needle-etching onto a waxy disk which was then metal-plated to make a master). Waxworks "exhibition of wax figures representing famous or notorious persons" first recorded 1796.

wax

"grow bigger or greater," Old English weaxan "to increase, grow" (class VII strong verb; past tense weox, past participle weaxen), from Proto-Germanic *wahsan (cognates: Old Saxon, Old High German wahsan, Old Norse vaxa, Old Frisian waxa, Dutch wassen, German wachsen, Gothic wahsjan "to grow, increase"), from PIE *weg- (cognates: Sanskrit vaksayati "cause to grow," Greek auxein "to increase"), extended form of root *aug- (1) "to increase" (see augment). Strong conjugation archaic after 14c. Related: Waxed; waxing.

Wiktionary
wax

Etymology 1

  1. Made of wax. n. 1 beeswax. 2 earwax. 3 Any oily, water-resistant substance; normally long-chain hydrocarbons, alcohols or esters. 4 Any preparation containing wax, used as a polish. 5 A phonograph record. 6 (context US dialect English) A thick syrup made by boiling down the sap of the sugar maple and then cooling it. 7 (context US slang English) A type of drugs with as main ingredients weed oil and butane; hash oil v

  2. 1 (context transitive English) To apply wax to (something, such as a shoe, a floor, a car, or an apple), usually to make it shiny. 2 (context transitive English) 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 (context transitive informal English) To defeat utterly. 4 (context transitive slang English) To kill, especially to murder a person. 5 (context transitive archaic usually of a musical or oral performance English) To record. (from 1900) Etymology 2

    n. (context rare English) The process of grow. vb. 1 (label en intransitive with adjective) To increasingly assume the specified characteristic, become. 2 (label en intransitive literary) To grow. Etymology 3

    n. (context dated colloquial English) An outburst of anger.

WordNet
wax
  1. v. cover with wax; "wax the car"

  2. go up or advance; "Sales were climbing after prices were lowered" [syn: mount, climb, rise] [ant: wane]

  3. increase in phase; "the moon is waxing" [syn: full] [ant: wane]

wax

n. any of various substances of either mineral origin or plant or animal origin; they are solid at normal temperatures and insoluble in water

Wikipedia
Wax

Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are hydrophobic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low viscosity liquids. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents. Natural waxes of different types are produced by plants and animals and occur in petroleum.

Wax (rock band)

Wax was a Los Angeles, California-based punk rock band that emerged during the pop punk resurgence of the early 1990s, and includes Joe Sib, Tom "Soda" Gardocki, Dave Georgeff, and Loomis Fall. The band is best known for their MTV buzz clip video "California", directed by Spike Jonze.

Wax (UK band)

Wax was an English 1980s group consisting of American singer-songwriter Andrew Gold and 10cc guitarist/bassist Graham Gouldman. In the US, they were listed as Wax UK. The band is best known for the hit singles "Right Between the Eyes" and " Bridge to Your Heart".

Wax (singer)

Cho Hye-Ri, (born May 31, 1976), better known as Wax, is a South Korean pop singer and musical actress. She was the lead vocalist of the band Dog. She debuted as soloist in 2000 and has released ten albums and digital singles. Aside her singing activities, Wax made her acting debut in 2007 with a main role in the musical Fixing My Makeup , whose plot is based on her song of the same name. Her hit songs include "Fixing My Makeup" and "Please". She has won three Golden Disk Awards, one each year from 2001 to 2003.

Wax (disambiguation)

Wax is a class of chemical compounds and mixtures, but may also refer to:

Wax (album)

Wax is the seventh studio album by French new wave band Indochine. It was released in 1996.

Wax (rapper)

Michael Jones (born April 5, 1980), better known by his stage name Wax, is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He became a YouTube star after uploading several videos of himself rapping and singing. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Wax is widely known for his popular 2012 re-released single Rosana, which has been viewed over 35 million times on YouTube.

Wax (surname)

Wax is a surname. Notable people with the name include:

  • Carol Wax (born 1953), American artist and author
  • Chaim Elozor Wax (1822—89), Hasidic rabbi and scholar
  • Mikey Wax, American pianist, guitarist and singer-songwriter
  • Ruby Wax (born 1953), American-born British comedian
  • Steven T. Wax (born 1949), American lawyer
Wax (Ethel Lina White novel)

Wax is a 1935 Mystery novel by British author Ethel Lina White.

Usage examples of "wax".

Thus then they abode a-feasting till the sun was westering and the shadows waxed about them, and then at last Ralph rose up and called to horse, and the other wayfarers arose also, and the horses were led up to them.

This greasy, sometimes waxy substance is known as adipocere, or grave wax.

It was there by virtue of its selfness, adrift in the same waxen pale as himself.

Master Radly had included an oilskin bow case and a covered quiver in the price of the bow, to which Alec had added a score of arrows, linen twine and wax for bowstrings, and packets of red and white fletching.

And even among reforming writers who could wax indignant at every other kind of abuse and anachronism, there was little enthusiasm for some sort of nonvenal, bureaucratic state.

Above the tannin-dyed waters, an anhinga roosted in a wax myrtle and spread its wings to dry.

I divided my attention between rapidly scribbling notes on my wax tablets and glancing at Asteria behind the prince.

She had encountered him once when he was at his workwaxing the aumbries and weeping, so that the wax mingled with his tears.

The sword in his fist waxed brighter, second by second, until he was forced to shield his eyes with the back of his bandaged hand.

Ward Mclntire, the man from the Bazooka bubble gum company, stood holding a glass bowl filled with gum all wrapped in shiny wax paper, each containing a shiny wax-paper cartoon inside.

I turnd my livin wild beests of Pray loose into the streets and spilt all my wax wurks.

I was sayin, I arroved at Oberlin, and called on Perfesser Peck for the purpuss of skewerin Kolonial Hall to exhibit my wax works and beests of Pray into.

Summer Campane with my unparaleld show of wax works and livin wild Beests of Pray in the early part of this munch.

She looked longingly at the soda-can atrocity on my wrist, all curling jangles of some lightweight alloy bendable as warm wax.

There was a woman sitting in a chair, her sideburns and chin smeared with dark golden wax, and there were two beautiful young women lying naked from the waist down, having their bikini lines done.