See Also:

wax(1) (iou)



wax noun1. [waks]

= BEESWAX noun. OE.
b. Beeswax melted down, bleached, or otherwise prepared for a special purpose, as for candles, modelling material, protective coatings, etc. Also with qualifying adjective. OE.
c. An object made of beeswax, as a candle, modelled figure, etc. M19.
a. = SEALING-wax. OE.
b. = COBBLER's wax. E17.
c. = earwax s.v. EAR noun1. E18.
fig. A person or thing likened to wax, with ref. to its softness and readiness to receive impressions, mouldability, fusibility, etc. OE.
Any of a class of thermoplastic water-repellent lipid substances with low softening temperatures, esters of long-chain fatty acids and alcohols, which are secreted by animals or form a protective outer layer on the stem, leaves, etc., of plants. L18.
b. Any of various mineral and synthetic hydrocarbons with similar properties, as paraffin wax and some polyethers. M19.
A thick syrup produced by boiling down the sap of the sugar maple and cooling. US. M19.
Paraffin wax rubbed on a ski or surfboard to prevent slipping. E20.
A gramophone record (so called from the wax discs in which the recording stylus cuts its groove). Freq. in on wax, in record form. colloq. E20.
Phrases: close as wax extremely close (with ref. to the adhesive nature of wax). JAPANESE wax. man of wax, lad of wax (now arch. & dial.) a good, clever, or faultless man. mineral wax: see MINERAL adjective. nose of wax: see NOSE noun. paraffin wax: see PARAFFIN noun. vegetable wax: see VEGETABLE adjective. virgin wax: see VIRGIN adjective.
Attrib. & comb.: In the sense 'made of wax', as wax candle, wax taper, etc. Special combs., as wax bath an application of warm liquid wax, which is allowed to solidify, to a part of the body, for cosmetic or medical purposes; wax bean N. Amer. = wax-pod bean below; wax berry any of certain plants having berries with a waxy coating, esp. the bayberry, Myrica cerifera, of the US, and the allied M. cordifolia, of South Africa; the berry of such a plant; wax-billed adjective (of a bird) having a bill resembling sealing-wax; wax borer Austral. slang a person who talks too much; wax-chandler a person whose trade is to make or sell wax candles; wax-cloth (a) cloth coated with wax as a protection from wet; (b) oil cloth for covering floors or tables; wax-cluster a Tasmanian shrub, Gaultheria hispida, of the heath family, with white flowers and berries; wax-colour (a) a pigment ground with wax for encaustic painting; (b) the yellow colour of wax; wax doll (a) a doll with a head and bust (often also limbs) of wax; (b) (in pl.) fumitory, Fumaria officinalis, so called from its waxy pink flowers; wax-end thread coated with cobbler's wax, used by shoemakers; wax-eye Austral. & NZ = silver-eye s.v. SILVER noun & adjective; wax flower (a) an imitation flower made of wax; (b) any of certain plants having flowers with a waxen appearance; esp. = HOYA; wax gland Entomology a gland which secretes wax; wax-insect an insect that produces wax; esp. a scale insect; wax jack a device for holding a coiled taper with its end ready for lighting, to provide a flame for melting sealing-wax; wax-kernel (obsolete exc. dial.) a hard glandular swelling in the neck or armpit or under the jaw; wax-light a candle, taper, or night-light made of wax; wax moth any of several pyralid moths which have larvae that feed on beeswax; esp. Galleria mellonella, which is a pest of honeycomb in beehives; wax museum a waxworks; wax myrtle the bayberry, Myrica cerifera; wax-painting encaustic painting; wax palm either of two S. American wax-yielding palms, Ceroxylon alpinum, of Colombia, and the carnauba, Copernicia prunifera, of Brazil; wax paper paper waterproofed with a layer of wax; N. Amer. greaseproof paper; wax plant any of various plants yielding a vegetable wax or having flowers with a waxen appearance; esp. (a) the bayberry, Myrica cerifera; (b) = wax flower (b) above; wax pocket Entomology each of the sacs on the abdomen of a honeybee, for receiving the wax secreted by the wax glands; wax-pod (bean) a dwarf French bean belonging to any of several varieties having yellow, stringless pods; = butter-bean (a) s.v. BUTTER noun1; wax print cloth patterned by a batik process; wax resist a process similar to batik used in pottery and printing; wax shot (obsolete exc. Hist.) a customary payment made for the maintenance of lights in churches; wax tablet a board coated with wax, written on with a stylus; wax-tree any of various trees yielding wax; esp. (more fully Japanese wax-tree) an eastern Asian sumac, Rhus succedanea, having white berries which are used as a substitute for beeswax.
waxlike adjective resembling wax in appearance or consistency M18.