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单词 wax
释义

waxn.1

Brit. /waks/, U.S. /wæks/
Forms: Old English wæx, wex, Old English, Middle English weax, Middle English–1500s, 1800s dialect wex, Middle English–1500s wexe (Middle English vexe), Middle English–1600s waxe, (Middle English waxche, Scottish vax, Middle English whax), Middle English–1600s Scottish walx, (1500s Scottish valx, waux, waks), Middle English– wax.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Common Germanic (not recorded in Gothic): Old English weax neuter = Old Frisian wax, Old Saxon wahs (Low German, Dutch was), Old High German, Middle High German wahs (modern German wachs), Old Norse vax (Swedish vax, Danish vox) < Old Germanic *waχso-m. Outside Germanic the word occurs as Lithuanian wãskas , Old Church Slavonic voskŭ (Russian vosk , Polish wosk , Czech vosk ), but probably adopted < Germanic. The root may be identical with Germanic *wa χs- to grow (wax v.1); it seems not impossible that the etymological sense may have been ‘that which grows (in the honeycomb)’. The view now most in favour refers the word to the Indogermanic root *weg- to weave, found in Old Irish figim I weave, Latin vēlum veil, sail (believed to be from prehistoric *veg-slom ), and in certain Germanic words (see wick n.1); the advocates of this etymology appeal to the apparent semasiological parallel of German wabe , honeycomb, presumed to be from the root of weben weave v.1 Some other hypotheses have been proposed, but they are all unsatisfactory with regard either to form or meaning.
1.
a. A substance (also distinctively called beeswax n.) produced by bees, and used by them as the material of the honeycomb. It is a secretion of special glands in the abdomen, mixed with the secretion of the salivary glands in the process of mastication; when slightly warmed it is readily moulded into any shape, and when heated to about 150° melts into a liquid; in its natural state it is of a bright yellow colour. butter of wax: see butter n.1 Compounds 5a. Cf. wax-butter n. at Compounds 2.Chemically beeswax is a combination of palmitic, cerotic, and melissic acids with myricil alcohol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > wax
wax805
virgin waxc1400
medewax1416
pissoceros1658
mitys1706
maiden-wax1726
805-10 [see sense 2a]. 971 [see sense 2a]. c1200 [see sense 2a]. c1275 [see sense 2a]. 1340-70 [see sense 2a].
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. lxi. 1322 Wexe is þe drastes of hony.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 675 This Perdoner hadde heer as yelow as wex.
c1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1023 Of tyme is wex and hony maad swettest.
1487 [see sense 2a].
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. KKKiiii Lyke as the hony is closed wtin the come of waxe.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) i. 105 As beis takkis walx and honye of þe floure.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. ii. 65 Since I nor wax nor honie can bring home. View more context for this quotation
a1679 J. Moore Englands Interest (1703) 137 Break the Combs..into three parts. The first Honey and Wax, the 2d. Honey and Wax with Sandarack, the 3d. dry Wax without Honey.
1792 J. Hunter in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 82 145 The wax is formed by the bees themselves; it may be called an external secretion of oil, and I have found that it is formed between each scale of the under side of the belly.
1834 H. McMurtrie tr. G. Cuvier Animal Kingdom (abridged ed.) 433 Wax, according to the experiments of the same naturalists, is nothing more than elaborated honey.
1871 E. F. Staveley Brit. Insects 248 The substances or materials collected or produced by Bees are four in number—honey, bee-bread, wax, and propolis.
b. rough wax: a term formerly applied to the pollen adhering to the legs of bees, which was erroneously supposed to be the crude substance from which the wax was elaborated. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [noun] > parts of > stamen or pistil > pollen and related parts
sandarac1623
globulet1671
powder1672
bread1682
farina1721
pollen1723
father-dust1728
rough wax1744
yellow rain1755
dust1776
fovilla1793
anther dust1797
pollen mass1828
pollen tube1830
intextine1835
pollen grain1835
pollen granule1835
exine1839
exintine1839
intine1839
pollinium1849
sulphur shower1854
pollinic mass1857
pollen chamber1863
smoke1868
pollen sac1872
pollinarium1881
sulphur rain1882
pollinic chamber1885
perine1895
pollen content1926
sculpturing1943
monad1947
nexine1948
sexine1948
1744 tr. G. A. Bazin Nat. Hist. Bees 43 This dust then, which falls upon these stamina of flowers, is the sole matter, of which wax is made, which I shall call rough wax.
1792 J. Hunter in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 82 144 The substance brought in on their legs, which is the farina of the flowers of plants, is, in common, I believe, imagined to be the materials of which the wax is made, for it is called by most the wax.
2.
a. Beeswax as melted down, bleached, or otherwise prepared for some special purpose in the arts, in medicine, or in manufactures.The more prominent uses are: as material for candles and tapers, as a plastic material for modelling, as a component of plasters, as a vehicle for encaustic painting, and as a protective coating to exclude the air.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > melted or bleached beeswax
wax805
beeswax1676
805–10 in Birch Cartul. Sax. (1885) I. 459 Mon ðaet weax agæfe to cirican.
971 Blickl. Hom. 129 Swa swa eles gecynd bið þæt he beorhtor scineþ þonne wex on sceafte.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 47 Alse wex on þe candele sene, þe wueke wiðinnen unsene.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1186 Muchel win muchel wex muchel wunsum þing.
1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 236 While þe weke & þe waxe vn-wasteþ lasteþ.
1402 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 11 ij torchis of wax.
1406 T. Hoccleve La Male Regle 254 Alle eres of men of his compaignie, With wex he stoppe leet, for þat they noght Hir song sholde heere.
a1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 81 If þou wilt make it in maner of one emplastre, putte þer-to wax and blak pich.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 119 Vyne and vax, schot and vittale.
1597 King James VI & I Daemonologie ii. v. 44 To some others at these times hee teacheth, how to make Pictures of waxe or clay: That by the rosting thereof, the persones that they beare the name of, may be continuallie melted or dryed awaie by continuall sicknesse.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxxv. xi. 546 As touching the feat of setting colours with wax, and enamelling with fire, who first began and devised the same, it is not known.
1612 Bk. Customs & Valuation in A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 293 Candles of walx the pound weght thairof, iiii s.
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 133 There should be made three images of wax, in the place of three men that were to be offered unto Juno.
1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. i. vi. 40 A Cerote of Wax and Oyl over the Leg.
1702 in J. Ashton Social Life Reign of Queen Anne (1882) I. 283 Effigies..Curiously done in Wax to the Life.
1707–21 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husb. II. 255 Cleft Grafting... Cover the Head of the Stock with temper'd Clay, or with soft Wax.
1768 W. Lewis Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 202 The chief medicinal use of wax is in plasters, unguents, and other like external applications.
1787 Trans. Soc. Arts 5 104 The Art of Painting in Wax as described in the following letter and account.
1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France II. 227 They..I think excel Mrs. Wright's finest figures in wax.
1803 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Mar. 176 A stream of wax has just overflowed the cup of the wax candle by which I have been reading.
1815 S. Parkes Chem. Catech. II. 148 In some particular styles of work the operation of certain colours is resisted by means of stopping out with wax.
1832 T. Carlyle Death Goethe in Crit. & Misc. Ess. (1840) IV. 118 The true Sovereign of the world, who moulds the world like soft wax, according to his pleasure.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xxviii. 249 Children, who..were fully impressed with the belief that her grandfather was a cunning device in wax.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2312/2 Cover the inside of the [plaster] sections with a shell of wax.
b. As used for the coating of writing tablets.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > writing tablet > [noun] > beeswax used to coat writing tablet
wax1533
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. 55 Als richtuislie as þai ar here Ingravin in þir tabillis or walx.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Cera Ceræ credere aliquid, Plaut. To wryte in tables of waxe.
1854 F. W. Fairholt Dict. Terms Art at Encaustic The artists of antiquity..used the stylus and wax for tablet-pictures and architectural decorations.
c. A particular variety of wax. Usually with qualifying adjective, as bleached wax, white wax, yellow wax. See also virgin wax n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > melted or bleached beeswax > a particular variety of
wax1540
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > melted or bleached beeswax > a particular variety of > specific
yellow wax1540
1540 R. Jonas tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde ii. f. lxiii Yf the chylde be in great heate annoynte hym with the oyle of violettes, or with oyle olyfe, tempered with a lyttell whyte wexe.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxi. xiv. 96 The best wax is that which is called Punica,..and is white. The next, in goodnesse is the yellowest,..such commeth from the countrey of Pontus.
1631 Brit. Patent 50 (1857) 1 To make yellow wax white verie speedily.
1768 W. Lewis Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 201 Cera alba..White wax: the yellow wax artificially bleached.
1768 W. Lewis Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 201 Cera flava..Yellow wax; in the state wherein it is obtained from the combs.
1811 A. T. Thomson London Dispensatory ii. 96 Unbleached Wax... Yellow wax is prepared immediately from the honeycomb.
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxix. 390 The applications in use were yellow wax ointment and nitrate of silver.
†d. man of wax n. Obsolete a waxen image of a man.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > modelling > [noun] > model > in wax
man of wax1503
waxwork1697
waxworks1774
wax1844
ceroplastics1882
1439 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 118 Allso I woll the great Image of wex that is at London be offred to our lady of Worcestre.]
1503 Will of Henry Rigawell (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/13) f. 198 I wille that my seid executors..shalle offre for me a man a [sic] of wax..at our lady of Walsyngham..also at the rode of Berkles a man of waxe.
†e. plural. Pieces of wax.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > pieces of wax
waxes1550
1550 T. Cranmer Def. Sacrament f. 81 As two waxes, that be molten & put togither, they close so in one, that euery part of the one, is ioyned to euery parte of the other.
f. An object made of wax. (a) A wax candle. (b) A figure or model in wax.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > candle > [noun] > wax candle
wax candlec725
ciergec1300
wax-light1600
cere-candle1632
bougiea1753
wax1844
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > modelling > [noun] > model > in wax
man of wax1503
waxwork1697
waxworks1774
wax1844
ceroplastics1882
(a)
1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & Widows III. xlix. 199 A resplendent October moon..seemed to impose upon us the notion that it would be a sacrilege against Diana if we were to shut out her rays, and substitute a pair of waxes for her clear beams.
1871 W. Besant & J. Rice Ready-money Mortiboy iii Don't waste the light, Dick. You're burning one of your poor aunt's waxes.
(b)1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind vi. 125 A mediæval sermon speaks of baptizing a ‘wax’ to bewitch with.1906 Westm. Gaz. 9 May 8/2 The original ‘waxes’ of Flaxman, Angelino, Pacetti, and other famous designers, from which the moulds for the familiar classical decorations were made.
3.
a. In figurative and similative uses, referring to the easy fusibility of wax, its softness and readiness to receive impressions, its adhesiveness, etc. nose of wax: see nose n. 9.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [noun] > plasticity > plastic substance > typical example of
waxc825
taffy1960
c825 Vesp. Psalter xxi. 15 Geworden wes heorte min swe swe wæx gemaeltende in midle wombe minre.
c1000 Ags. Ps. (1835) lvii. 7 Swa weax melteþ, gif hit byð wearmum neah fyre gefæstnad.
1471 G. Ripley Compound of Alchymy i. vi. in Ashmole (1652) 130 Fluxyble as Wex.
c1480 (a1400) St. James Great 266 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 104 Þe stane..wex nesch as it wax war.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vi. sig. I At my wil I wend she wolde haue wrought, like wax.
1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia v. sig. D6v He hath a wit of waxe, fresh as a rose.
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. iii. 125 Thy Noble shape is but a forme of waxe, Digressing from the valour of a man. View more context for this quotation
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Coxcombe ii. ii, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Nn4v/1 I'le worke her as I go I know shee's wax, now.
1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore i. ii. 117 I'm glad you are wax, not marble; you are made Of mans best temper.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Pliant,..Wax to every Thumb.
1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. ii. 4 He's your Slave for twenty pound a year. Mere Wax as yet, you fashion him with ease.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VII. xliv. 176 When my mind is made such wax, as to be fit to take what impression she pleases to give it.
1818 Ld. Byron Beppo xxxiii. 17 His heart was one of those which most enamour us, Wax to receive, and marble to retain.
1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. II. xiv. 99 John's heart was of millstone, Henry's of wax.
b. Phrases: close as wax, tight as wax, neat as wax; to stick (to one) like wax; to fit like wax.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective]
unspeakinga1382
speechless1390
mutec1400
dumb1406
silenta1425
peaceablec1425
secretc1440
of few wordsa1500
tongue-tied1529
mum1532
closec1540
strait-laced1546
tongue-dumb1556
incommunicable1568
sparing1568
inconversable1577
retentive1599
wordless1604
mumbudget1622
uncommunicable1628
monastica1631
word-bound1644
on (also upon) the reserve1655
strait-mouthed1664
oyster-like1665
incommunicative1670
mumchance1681
speechless1726
taciturnous1727
tongue-tacked1727
monosyllabic1735
silentish1737
untalkative1739
silentious1749
buttoned-up1767
taciturn1771
close as wax1772
untittletattling1779
reticent1825
voiceless1827
say-nothing1838
unremonstrant1841
still1855
unvocal1858
inexpansive186.
short-tongued1864
non-communicating1865
tight-lipped1876
unworded1886
chup1896
tongue-bound1906
shut-mouthed1936
zip-lipped1943
shtum1958
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > be or become attached or affixed [verb (intransitive)] > remain attached > adhere
cleavec897
to stick (cleave, cling, etc.) like a burc1330
sita1398
clinga1400
clengec1400
engleim?1440
adhere1557
clag1563
clasp1569
clencha1600
clung1601
clam1610
yclingec1620
affix1695
clinch1793
to stick (to one) like wax1809
cleam-
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [verb (intransitive)] > fit tightly
sitc1225
spen13..
pinch1693
felter1768
to fit like wax1859
1772 R. Cumberland Fashionable Lover iii. 35 But you mun be as close as wax, d'ye see.
1809 Ld. Byron Lines to Mr. Hodgson 30 All are wrangling, Stuck together close as wax.
1851 S. Warner Wide Wide World I. xvi. 198 The furniture was common but neat as wax.
1859 E. Bulwer-Lytton What will he do with It? (1st Edinb. ed.) II. iv. xiv ‘Cabined, cribbed, confined’, in a coat that fits him like wax.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iv. iv. 187 Bella and John Rokesmith followed; Gruff and Glum stuck to them like wax.
1898 N. Gould Landed at Last v. 52 Not much chance of drawing Sim Sharples when he's alone. He's as close as wax, and so is Sam Rogers.
1902 M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp 202 I pulled and strained, but it was as tight as wax.
c. man of wax, lad of wax: used as a term of emphatic commendation. Now archaic and dialect (see Eng. Dial. Dict).The origin of this expression is not clear. It may have meant ‘as faultless as if modelled in wax’ (cf. 2d). Some would refer it to wax n.2
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person
gemc1275
blooma1300
excellence1447
mirrorc1450
man of mena1470
treasure?1545
paragon1548
shining light1563
Apollo's swan?1592
man of wax1597
rara avis1607
Titan1611
choice spirita1616
excellency1725
inestimable1728
inimitable1751
cock of the walk1781
surpasser1805
shiner1810
swell1816
trump1819
tip-topper1822
star1829
beauty1832
soarer1895
trumph1895
pansy1899
Renaissance man1906
exemplum virtutis1914
museum piece1920
superman1925
flyer1930
pistol1935
all-star1949
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iii. 78 Why he is a man of waxe . View more context for this quotation
1607 T. Dekker & J. Webster West-ward Hoe ii. i. sig. C2 Hees a Knight made out of waxe.
1612 N. Field Woman a Weather-cocke i. B 4 b By Ioue it is a little man of wax.
1620 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster i. 7 Oh tis a Prince of wax.
1821 W. T. Moncrieff Tom & Jerry iii. iii A glass of good max..Wou'd have made them, like us, lads of wax.
1840 Peter Parley's Ann. 131 The shoemaker..surveyed the Prince from top to bottom. ‘No tailor could do that,’ said he; ‘he must be a lad of wax.’
1858 A. Trollope Dr. Thorne I. iv. 85 All right, my lad of wax.
1880 R. D. Blackmore Mary Anerley II. v. 98 Could any lad of wax put up with this, least of all a daring mariner?
4.
a. In early use, beeswax (or a mixture of this with other substances) as employed to receive the impression of a seal; in later use, a compound, chiefly consisting of lac, serving the same purpose: = sealing-wax n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > imprinting > sealing > [noun] > sealing wax
wax971
sealing-wax13..
hard wax1603
stick1662
seal-wax1741
kiss1829
971 Blickl. Hom. 205 Þa fotlastas wæron swutole & gesyne on þæm stane, swa hie on wexe wæron aðyde.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 557 Als prient of seel in wax es thrist Þer in he has his lic[nes] fest.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter iv. 7 Þe prynt we bere of þt light as þe wax does of þe sele.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. lxi. 1323 Pryuete is hidde vnder wexe. And priuileges ben confermed wiþ wex.
c1450 Cov. Myst. (1841) 341 Loo! here is wax fful redy dyght, Sett on ȝour sele anon ful ryght.
1511–12 Act 3 Hen. VIII c. 6 §1 The Alnager..shall..not put to eny suche clothes eny seales of wexe in any wise.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 464 Brekand promit to him befoir he maid In writ and walx, wnder thair seillis braid.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxix For al the sorte of them occupie waxe..in sealyng their letters.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. I2v No more then waxe shall be accounted euill, Wherein is stampt the semblance of a Deuill. View more context for this quotation
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. i. 59 We will reade it, I sweare. Breake the necke of the Waxe, and euery one giue eare. View more context for this quotation
1607 T. Middleton Michaelmas Terme iv. sig. G3v Hee will neuer trust his land in Waxe and Parchment as many Gentlemen haue done before him.
1609 J. Skene tr. Forme of Proces in Regiam Majestatem 120 The deposition..sould be stampit and sealit be the Lords examinatours, with seale and walx, and sould not be opened at the secund or thrid examination.
1622 J. Taylor Farewell to Tower-bottles A 3 Bound fast in Bonds in Parchment and with waxe.
1676 W. Wycherley Plain-dealer iv. i O do not squeeze Wax, Son; rather go to Ordinaries, and Baudy-houses, than squeeze Wax.
1717 M. Prior To Harley 1 Pen, ink, and wax, and paper send.
1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife i. 8 Maj. A Letter!—Hum—A suspicious Circumstance to be sure!—What, and the Seal a True-Lover's Knot now, hey!..or possibly the Wax bore the industrious Impression of a Thimble.
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) IV. 32 One piece of wax may serve for all the grantors, &c...if every one of them put his seal upon the same piece of wax.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I cxcviii. 102 The seal a sunflower,..The wax was superfine, its hue vermillion.
b. With designation of colour. See also green wax n.
ΚΠ
1485 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 230 For rede wax to seale þe endentures.
1496 Acta Dom. Conc. II. 19 Ane decrete of the Lordis under the quhite walx.
1532 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1905) VI. 50 For rede waks and quhite to sele the citationis.
1641 ‘Smectymnuus’ Vindic. Answer Hvmble Remonstr. §16. 218 The Greene Wax and Red Wax of the Bishops.
1653 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) I. 525 Stone Bottles with White Wine. They are all sealed with Black Wax.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 431. ⁋ 3 I then nibbled all the red Wax of our last Ball-Tickets, and three Weeks after the black Wax from the Burying-Tickets of the old Gentleman.
†c. hard wax = sealing-wax n. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > imprinting > sealing > [noun] > sealing wax
wax971
sealing-wax13..
hard wax1603
stick1662
seal-wax1741
kiss1829
1603 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Hist. Descr. Worlde 35 The Ilands affoorde plenty of hides, cotten,..hard wax and pearles.
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse v. i. 39 in Wks. II My purse, my seales, My hard-wax, and my table-bookes.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed ix. 26 Laca d'Alaca..Of this is likewise made Spanish hard wax.
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xiv. 439 A clean piece of Paper, sealed with three impressions of an Antick head in hard Wax.
5. Applied to artificial compounds having the properties of wax, and substituted for it in various applications.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > artificial
wax1763
ceresin1885
1763 W. Lewis Commercium Philosophico-technicum 78 The gilding wax is composed of bees-wax, red ochre or ruddle, verdegris, vitriol or alum, and sometimes other additions.
6. Any of a class of substances, found in nature in greater or less purity, including beeswax and other compounds resembling it in general properties and (more or less) in chemical composition. In Chemistry properly restricted to those ‘waxes’ of animal and vegetable origin which, like beeswax, are composed of fatty acids and alcohols. The mineral ‘waxes’ are hydrocarbons.
a. A vegetable product obtained from various trees and plants.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > other vegetable materials > [noun] > waxy materials
wax1799
carnauba wax1854
vitellus1900
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > derived from plants
vegetable wax1721
wax1799
tree-wax1857
plant wax1924
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 1 268 The matter of wax, as forming an ingredient in many vegetables, is discoverable, partly from their shining surface, partly from a certain flexibility in such bodies.
1803 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Mar. 187 The light matter, which is called the down of fruits, which silvers the surface of prunes and other stone fruits, is wax.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iii. 84 Wax is found in a number of vegetables; it is procured in abundance from the berries of the wax myrtle..it may likewise be obtained from the leaves of many trees.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1283 Wax exists also as a vegetable product, and may, in this point of view, be regarded as a concrete fixed oil. It forms a part of the green fecula of many plants, particularly of the cabbage; it may be extracted from the pollen of most flowers; as also from the skins of plums, and many stone fruits. It constitutes a varnish upon the upper surface of the leaves of many trees, and it has been observed in the juice of the cow-tree. The berries of the Myrica angustifolia, latifolia, as well as the cerifera, afford abundance of wax.
1880 Alcock in Encycl. Brit. XIII. 590/2 The Urushi tree growing in Japan (the fruit of which yields the vegetable wax).
1887 C. A. Moloney Sketch Forestry W. Afr. 461 Gums and Resins, Vegetable Waxes.
b. A substance resembling beeswax secreted or produced by various species of scale-insects. Sometimes called Chinese wax. Also, ‘the product of some other homopterous insects’ ( Cent. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > family Coccidae or genus Coccus > substance secreted
pela1754
wax1803
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. III. 269 To their [the larvæ of the cicada] labours the Chinese are indebted for the fine white wax that is so much esteemed in the East-Indies. They form a sort of white grease which attaches to the branches of trees, hardens there, and becomes wax.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. x. 328 In China wax is also produced by another insect, which..seems to be a species of Coccus.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. x. 331 Early in the spring vast numbers of these caterpillars [of Phalæna ceraria] collect on the branches of the Chila, where they form their cells of a kind of soft white wax or resin... This wax, which is at first very white, but by degrees becomes yellow and finally brown, is collected in autumn by the inhabitants, who boil it in water, and make it up into little cakes for market.
1852 W. Gregory Handbk. Org. Chem. (ed. 3) 247 Chinese Wax.
1876 Westwood in Trans. Entomol. Soc. London 521 Now this ‘cottony’ covering was doubtless formed of the wax secreted by the Fulgora.
1899 D. Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. ii. 575 A great many [of the Fulgoridæ] have the curious power of excreting large quantities of a white flocculent wax.
1899 D. Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. ii. 597 Ceroplastes ceriferus, a Lecaniid, produces white wax in India... The white wax of China is understood to be produced by another Lecaniid, Ericerus pela.
c. A mineral product somewhat resembling bees-wax. fossil wax or mineral wax = ozokerite n. paraffin wax: see paraffin wax n. at paraffin n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > hydrocarbon minerals > [noun] > waxes
mountain tar1798
maltha1807
sea-wax1807
ozokerite1834
mineral wax1838
bog-butter1863
wax1866
petrostearin1879
impsonite1901
1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 448 Fossil wax of Moldavia.
1842 G. W. Francis Dict. Arts Wax, Mineral, a bituminous substance, found at the foot of the Carpathian mountains, near Slarick.
1868 H. Watts Dict. Chem. (1877) V. 1037 Wax, Fossil. Syn. with Ozocerite.
d. gen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > hydrocarbon minerals > [noun] > waxes
mountain tar1798
maltha1807
sea-wax1807
ozokerite1834
mineral wax1838
bog-butter1863
wax1866
petrostearin1879
impsonite1901
1866 H. Watts Dict. Chem. (1877) IV. 322 Ozocerite..is like a resinous wax in consistence and translucency.
1868 H. Watts Dict. Chem. (1877) V. 1037 Japan-wax..is not a true wax, but a glyceride.
e. (See quots.) Cf. paraffin wax n. at paraffin n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > wax coating > coating for skis
ski-wax1910
wax1924
klister1936
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > skiing > [noun] > accessory
ski-wax1910
wax1924
klister1936
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > surfing > [noun] > surfboard > equipment for
glass1962
wax1962
board sock1990
1924 Ski Terms in Tourist ( Winter Sports No.) 12/2 Wax, a paraffin preparation to prevent the snow balling under the ski.
1962 Austral. Women's Weekly 24 Oct. (Suppl.) 3/4 Wax, paraffin wax, rubbed on a [surf]board to prevent slipping.
Categories »
f. lost wax: see lost wax n. at lost adj. Compounds.
7. = earwax n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > secretions of the ear > [noun]
earwaxa1350
sapc1440
eresopc1450
wax1706
cerumen1741
perilymph1838
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. v. 905 Þis tree [sc. aloes] is yfrootid wiþ leed to chaunge þe colour, and ere-wex is ydo þerto to make it somdel bitter and rede.
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria iij. f. 27v Earewaxe doth stop the entrynge from small bestis.
1573 Treat. Arte of Limming 2 If there stand any belles uppon the sise, put in eare waxe, for it ys a remedy therefore.
1614 T. Adams in C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David (1870) I. Ps. xxvi. 10 Far be from our souls..that the ear..should be stopped with the earwax of partiality.]
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Cerumen The filth or Wax of the Ear, which serves to hinder Dust, Motes, or any little Creatures from getting into it.
1889 L. Humphry Man. Nursing (1892) 216 When there is hard wax blocking up the canal [of the ear].
8. A thick resinous composition used by shoemakers for rubbing their thread. More fully cobblers' wax, shoemakers' wax: see cobbler n., shoemaker n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > making footwear > [noun] > equipment or materials for > materials > wax
cud1358
wax1622
cobbler's wax1840
1622 T. Dekker & P. Massinger Virgin Martir iii. sig. G3v Long I cannot last, for all sowterly waxe of comfort melting away, and misery taking the length of my foote, it bootes not me to sue for life.
1837 J. Kirkbride Northern Angler 11 The amateur..must..be provided with..shoe-maker's wax. I prepare my own wax,..by boiling a little pitch and rosin together,..and tempering it with a very little tallow.
1885 J. B. Leno Art of Boot- & Shoe-making 222 Wax that will work up into the pure bronze colour so much liked by shoemakers may be made of 4 lbs. resin, 1 lb. pitch, 4 ounces beeswax, 3 ounces tallow.
9. U.S. A thick syrup produced by boiling down the sap of the sugar-maple tree, cooling on ice, etc. ( Cent. Dict.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > syrup > [noun] > maple syrup
maple molasses1788
maple syrup1792
wax1845
1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. i. 185 [Making maple sugar] The ‘wax’ is freely distributed to be cooled on lumps of snow, or the axe-head.
10. Mining. (See quot. 1883.)
ΚΠ
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Wax (Leicester.) soft or puddled clay used for dams or stoppings, and in which the colliers stick and carry about their candles in the mine.
11. U.S. slang. A gramophone record; to put on wax, to make a gramophone record of, to record. [ < the ‘wax’ discs in which the recording stylus cuts its groove.]
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > make recording [verb (transitive)]
phonograph1878
gramophone1908
press1918
to put on wax1932
wax1935
cut1937
tape1950
tape-record1950
audiotape1961
to lay down1967
over-record1977
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > a sound recording > [noun] > record or disc
phonograph record1878
record1878
disc1879
gramophone record1888
title1908
platter1926
phonodisc1929
release1932
wax1932
plate1935
waxing1936
audio disc1944
cut1949
sounds1955
twelve-inch1976
vinyl1976
1932 New Yorker 11 June 56/2 An extraordinarily competent bit of manufacture is the latest wax by Miss Jeanette MacDonald (Victor 24103).
1940 J. O'Hara Pal Joey (1952) 107 I am going to play the tune and cut a wax of it.
1941 Jazz Information Nov. 28/1 Some of the most beautiful piano playing Jelly Roll ever put on wax.
1941 W. C. Handy Father of Blues xvi. 219 Recording companies..made them available on wax.
1968 P. Oliver Screening Blues 4 The more sophisticated types of vaudeville entertainment were to be heard on wax before the Southern rural blues.
1979 Early Music 7 469/1 Scarlatti, Rameau, Couperin, Handel and, of course, Bach were committed to wax during the 1930s, as well.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
a. Attributive (quasi-adj.) with the sense ‘composed of wax’. (See also wax taper n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [adjective] > made of wax
waxenc1000
waxy1552
wax1585
ceroneous1657
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 474/2 Ceroplastes,..a maker of wax images.
1685 G. Sinclair Satans Invisible World Discovered 3 This woman..had formed an Wax-Picture, with pins in the side.
1811 A. T. Thomson London Dispensatory iii. 698 Wax Plaster.
1825 in R. W. Goulding Louth Old Corpor. Rec. (1891) 185 By Cash of Madame Tussaud for 5 weeks use of the Mansion House for her Exhibitn of Wax Figures, 9 19 6.
1840 C. Dickens Master Humphrey's Clock I. 101 A young hairdresser..opened a wery smart little shop vith four wax dummies in the winder.
1846 C. Dickens Pictures from Italy 18 There was a wax saint, in a little box..with a glass front to it.
1847 Ann. Reg. 20 A little box of about a dozen wax lucifer matches.
1849 Christmas Cradle of Twin Giants I. ii. iv. 271 An empty bier, surrounded by an hundred wax-torches.
1853 C. C. Felton Familiar Lett. (1865) viii. 61 The oddest thing of all is a wax figure of Frederic the Great.
1854 Poultry Chron. 2 105 Some freak of wax-fruit modelling.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Vesta, a kind of wax match.
1870 F. C. Bowen Logic xi. 353 It may be only a wax counterfeit.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 45 A wax vesta which is lit and the head knocked off.
1914 ‘I. Hay’ Knight on Wheels xx His wife kept wax fruit under a glass case in her parlour window.
1969 P. Y. Carter Mr. Campion's Farthing xix. 188 A wax dummy displaying a garment for sale.
1978 J. Anderson Angel of Death xii. 139 Her body as motionless, her face as impassive as a wax dummy.
b. simple attributive, ‘of or pertaining to wax’, as wax-chip, wax-solution, wax-spot.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [adjective]
cereous1601
ceraceous1768
waxy1799
wax1859
ceral1883
1859 Habits Good Society xiii. 336 After the Tuileries' balls, we often returned with complete epaulettes of wax-spots on our shoulders, if in moments of carelessness we had stood under the chandeliers.
1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 241 A wax solution or wax chips melted by a hot iron.
c. Objective. Also wax-maker n., wax-making n. and adj. at wax-maker n. Derivatives.
(a)
wax-bearer n.
ΚΠ
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. III. v. iii. sig. Eeee.vj/1 The Acoluthes, say they, are waxe-bearers, because they carrie waxe candles.
wax-bleacher n.
ΚΠ
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 77 Wax, beeswax—bleacher, refiner [etc.].
1908 Westm. Gaz. 29 Apr. 1/3 He..became a wax-bleacher at Hoxton.
wax-manufacturer n.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Wax-manufacturer.
wax-modeller n.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Wax-modeller.
† wax-nibbler n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 431. ⁋3 Chalk-lickers, Wax-nibblers, Coal-scranchers, [etc.].
wax producer n.
ΚΠ
1889 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 25 131 Insects..highly prized as wax-producers.
wax-refiner n.
ΚΠ
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 77 Wax, beeswax—bleacher, refiner [etc.].
(b)
wax-modelling n.
ΚΠ
1850 J. Ogilvie Imperial Dict. Wax-modelling.
(c)
wax-bearing adj.
ΚΠ
1796 W. H. Marshall Planting II. 232 The Candleberry Myrtle, or Wax-bearing Myrick.
wax-forming adj.
ΚΠ
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. III. 268 The Wax-forming Cicada.
wax-producing adj.
ΚΠ
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. 206 Bees are the principal wax-producing animals.
wax-secreting adj.
ΚΠ
1881 Globe Encycl. VI. 484 The wax-secreting glands [in the bee].
d. Instrumental.
wax-coated adj.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2748/2 A machine for preparing wax-coated matches for dipping.
wax-composed adj.
ΚΠ
a1642 F. Kynaston Leoline & Sydanis 1874 His wax-composed wings unfeathered were.
wax-daubed adj.
ΚΠ
1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses & Other Stories 305 The tawny wax-daubed shapeless lump.
wax-erected adj.
ΚΠ
a1718 T. Parnell Hesiod 131 Thus in a thousand wax-erected forts A loitering race the painful bee supports.
wax-jointed adj.
ΚΠ
1846 C. G. Prowett tr. Æschylus Prometheus Bound 27 While murmurs ever and anon From his wax-jointed reed the same low sleepy drone.
wax-lighted adj.
ΚΠ
1839 T. Hood Lines to Friend at Cobham 17 You'll sometimes have wax-lighted rooms.
wax-polished adj.
ΚΠ
1866 J. B. Rose tr. Ovid Metamorphoses 245 Chestnut bowls, wax-polished was their wood.
wax-rubbed adj.
ΚΠ
1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia sig. B6v Like a wax-rubd Citty roome.
wax-tipped adj.
ΚΠ
1898 A. Conan Doyle Trag. Korosko i He had..a small wax-tipped moustache.
wax-topped adj.
ΚΠ
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall I. 143 The stout gentleman and his wax-topped boots.
e. similative.
(a)
wax finish n.
ΚΠ
1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather (ed. 2) 464 The making of a wax finish on chrome-tanned horse hide butts.
(b)
wax-like adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [adjective] > plastic
malleablec1395
pliablec1475
submissivea1593
waxen1594
cereous1601
mouldable1626
shapeable1647
soluble1650
fictile1676
wax-like1748
plastic1791
the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > absence of colour > [adjective] > pale
blackeOE
blokec1200
blakec1275
fadec1290
bleykea1300
palisha1398
wanned1494
ashy?1541
wearish-coloured1548
wanny1555
wheyish1560
bleak1566
paly1568
ghastly1574
blankish1580
sick1599
palled1601
ashied1613
lurid1656
lunar1742
wax-like1748
ashen1808
unbrightened1827
waxy1835
peely-wally1895
waxen-hued1916
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. vi. 53 Her wax-like flesh..answers for the soundness of her health.
1816 S. T. Coleridge Statesman's Man. 4 We..need not be surprized at the fact, that a jealous priesthood should have ventured to represent the applicability of the Bible to all the wants and occasions of men as a wax-like pliability to all their fancies and prepossessions.
1862 W. A. Miller Elements Chem. (ed. 2) III. 474 If its chloride be mixed with a solution of bichloride of platinum it yields a wax-like mass.
1885 Cornhill Mag. Mar. 284 A lovely..plant with masses of waxlike lilac blossom.
1899 J. Hutchinson in Archives Surg. X. Descr. Pl. xvii The greater part of the hand is of wax-like pallor.
f. with adjectives denoting colour.
wax-blond adj.
ΚΠ
1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 92 Oh, wax-blond orange-blossoms' calice Of their hair.
wax-brown adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > other browns
umberc1568
Spanish brown1660
earth colour1688
raw umber1702
iron brown1714
clove-brown1794
raw sienna1797
wood-brown1805
moorit1809
coffee1815
oak1815
burnt almond1850
Vandyke brown1850
Turk's head1853
catechu brown1860
oak brown1860
mummy brown1861
walnut-brown1865
Havana1873
havana brown1875
wax-brown1887
box1889
nutria1897
caramel1909
wallflower brown1913
cigar1923
desert-brown1923
sunburn1923
tobacco1923
maple1926
butterscotch1927
walnut1934
snuff1951
mink1955
toffee1960
sludge1962
earth-tone1973
1887 W. Phillips Man. Brit. Discomycetes 70 Cup medium size,..pale wax-brown.
wax-pale adj.
ΚΠ
1942 E. Sitwell Street Songs 31 Dark-leaved arbutus blooms with wax-pale bells.
wax-red adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [adjective] > bright red or scarlet
scarletc1386
puniceousa1398
vermeilc1400
corala1522
Punic?1553
orient1578
vermilion1589
wax-red1593
cherry-red1594
Punical1606
coralline?1608
scarleted1641
coccineous1654
cinnabrianc1668
poppy-coloured1677
miniaceous1688
phoeniceous1688
cherry-coloured1695
coral-red1700
cardinal1755
cherried1762
ponceau1774
punicean1786
cinnabar1807
geraniumed1819
miniatous1826
cardinal scarlet1828
vermilion-coloured1835–6
geranium-coloured1836
pink1846
cardinal red1850
lobster-red1856
phoenicean1857
magenta1877
angered1878
scarlet-vermilion1882
tomato1889
camellia-red1890
miniate1891
nasturtium-red1896
sealing-wax1912
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Diijv Which purchase if thou make, for feare of slips, Set thy seale manuell, on my wax-red lips. View more context for this quotation
wax-white adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > [adjective] > pure white > as other typical things
swan-white1393
paper-whitec1430
ice-white1641
pearl white1779
lint-white1794
wool-white1819
fish belly1878
wax-white1883
1883 ‘M. Twain’ Life on Mississippi xxxi. 338 All of them with wax-white, rigid faces.
1890 R. Kipling Incarn. Krishna Mulvaney in Life's Handicap 29 My face was wax-white, an' at the worst I must ha' looked like a ghost.
wax-yellow n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [noun] > pale yellow
gullnessa1300
butter colour1629
wheat-colour1711
straw colour1737
jonquil1791
straw-yellow1794
straw1799
wax-yellow1805
sulphur-yellow1816
wax-colour1854
daffodil1855
sulphur-colour1866
sherry colour1871
tea rose1872
mastic1890
wheat1915
sulphur1924
straw-gold1963
buttermilk1977
1805 T. Weaver tr. A. G. Werner Treat. Fossils 58 Wax-yellow [Ger. wachsgelb] is a light honey-yellow, mixed with a little light ashes-grey.
g. in parasynthetic formations, as wax-featured, wax-headed, †wax-hearted adjs.
ΚΠ
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (i. 11) 227 How many who haue seemed waxe-hearted Christians, soft and pliable.
1913 E. Wharton Custom of Country ii. xii. 156 A showy Parisianized figure, with a small wax-featured husband.
1914 Glasgow News 22 Dec. 4 The map was bristling with wax-headed pins of great variety in size and colour. They represented army units.
C2. Special combinations:
wax bath n. an application of warm liquid wax which is allowed to solidify to a part of the body, for cosmetic or medical purposes; also, an immersion in liquid wax.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > lotion or bath > [noun] > specific
lyea700
eye-water?1593
mouth-water1598
arquebusade1739
eye lotion1797
black wash1805
mouthwash1806
bloodbath1834
starch bath1836
sulphur bath1843
whitewash1897
wax bath1916
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > preparations for the skin or complexion > treatments > covered with wax
wax bath1916
1916 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 701/1 The wax-bath has not been found beneficial in chronic rheumatoid arthritis.
1975 Harpers & Queen June 168/1 Sauna, steam cabinet baths, wax baths.
wax bean n. U.S. = wax-pod bean n. below.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > bean > kidney beans or kidney bean plants
French bean1542
kidney bean1548
fasels1562
frijoles1568
Welsh bean1585
longbean1587
cock stone1631
haricot1653
string-bean1759
snap-bean1770
bunch-bean1787
butter bean1820
bush-bean1821
snaps1845
navy bean1851
cannellini1862
flageolet1877
wax bean1905
pinto bean1913
wax-pod bean1921
borlotti1932
1900 Cycl. Amer. Hort.: A–D 136/2 The Wax or Yellow-podded sorts need a richer soil.]
1905 Outing July 502/2 White bush wax-beans are best for very early, but the pole varieties are better for late.
1967 R. M. Carleton Vegetables for Today's Gardens ii. 14 No one has produced a wax bean with better flavour than Pencil Rod Black Wax.
† wax boot n. Obsolete a boot made of waxed leather, for walking in marshy ground.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > boot > [noun] > made from specific material
huseau1464
russeting?1620
wax boot1676
fair-top boot1809
Albert boot1840
Albert1847
shoepack1882
finnesko1890
yeti boot1973
1676 T. Shadwell Virtuoso ii. 29 'Twill be as common to buy a pair of Wings to fly to the World in the Moon, as to buy a pair of Wax Boots to ride into Sussex with.
wax-bush n. the plant Cuphea viscosissima.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Lythraceae (lythrum and allies) > [noun]
grass poly1633
wax-bush1845
Lythrum1862
wax-weed1884
1845–50 A. H. Lincoln Familiar Lect. Bot. (new ed.) ii. 96 Cuphea viscosissima (wax-bush).
wax-butter n. = butter of wax n. at butter n.1 Compounds 5a (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > other wax materials
blackball1700
heelball1774
stearin1839
wax-butter1868
solar stearin1882
guttering1888
1868 H. Watts Dict. Chem. (1877) V. 1036 Beeswax is decomposed by dry distillation, giving off a product which forms, on cooling, a white buttery mass, called wax-butter, or Butyrum ceræ.
wax-cloth n. cloth coated with wax as a protection from wet; also, oil-cloth for covering floors or tables.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > cover for furniture
carpet1345
carpencloth1577
carpet-cloth1615
wax-cloth1816
loose cover1876
slip-cover1886
throw1888
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > floor-covering > [noun] > floorcloth > types of
wax-cloth1816
linoleum1878
corticine1880
cork carpet1906
lino1907
cork lino1909
spit and sawdust1937
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [noun] > made waterproof > with wax
cered clothc1386
cerecloth1540
wax-cloth1816
1816 W. Scott Black Dwarf i, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. I. 26 The first..having a hat covered with wax-cloth..and dreadnought overalls.
1834 T. Carlyle Let. to Mrs. Austin in Thorpe's Catal. (1913) Some sort of wax-cloth for a lobby.
1868 Chambers's Encycl. X. 111/2 Wax-cloth, a name sometimes given, but very erroneously, to Floor-cloth (q.v.).
wax-cluster n. Australian the plant Gualtheria hispida.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > berry-bush or -tree > [noun] > Australasian
redberry1785
five-corner1826
wax-cluster1834
mako1848
makomako1848
snowberry1880
sea-berry1884
ground-berry1889
wineberry1889
1834 J. Ross Van Diemen's Land Ann. 133 Gaultheria hispida. The wax cluster, abundant in the middle region of Mount Wellington.
wax-colour n. (a) a pigment ground with wax for encaustic painting; (b) the yellow colour of wax.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > types of
lac1558
purpurin1558
colourish1598
earth1598
watercolour1598
earth colour1658
encaustic1662
lake1684
virgin tint1706
mosaic gold1746
bronze1753
gold bronze1769
cake colour1784
musive gold1796
sap-colour1816
repaint1827
moist colour1842
bronze powder1846
wax-colour1854
wax pigment1854
bitumen1855
chrome garnet1876
zinc-dust1877
zinc-powder1881
terra nera1882
earth pigment1900
the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [noun] > pale yellow
gullnessa1300
butter colour1629
wheat-colour1711
straw colour1737
jonquil1791
straw-yellow1794
straw1799
wax-yellow1805
sulphur-yellow1816
wax-colour1854
daffodil1855
sulphur-colour1866
sherry colour1871
tea rose1872
mastic1890
wheat1915
sulphur1924
straw-gold1963
buttermilk1977
1854 F. W. Fairholt Dict. Terms Art at Wax Painting In Encaustic Painting, the wax colours were burnt into the ground by means of a hot iron.
1901 Macmillan's Mag. Apr. 439/2 His sun-burned face turned wax-colour.
wax-coloured adj.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [adjective] > pale yellow
gull13..
flaxen?1523
palew1547
straw-coloured1585
branlie1589
straw colour1589
flaxy1634
festucine1646
sulphureous1656
flaxenish1661
butter colour1665
strawy1668
straw-yellow1794
bombycinous1796
sulphur-coloured1811
sherry-yellow1813
sulphur-yellow1816
bombasic1825
straw1842
wax-coloured1842
stramineous1845
maize-coloured1852
daffodil1855
daw1856
flax1873
sherry-coloured1875
mastic1890
sulpho-chromic1895
ochroid1897
wheat-coloured1898
sulphurous1899
sulphury1900
tea rose1900
straw-pale1922
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 581 Varieties of cornel..with wax-coloured fruit.
† wax-comb n. Obsolete a honeycomb.
ΚΠ
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 368 Thai mycht liknyt be Till ane vax-cayme [1489 Adv. wax cayme] that beis mais.
wax-creeper n. South African a name of two plants with wax-like flowers, Hoya carnosa and Microloma tenuifolium.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental vine > [noun] > haya
wax-plant1801
wax flower1848
hoya1851
wax-creeper1890
1890 A. Martin Home Life Ostrich Farm 20 The little ‘wax-creeper,’ than which tiny as it is, I do not think a more perfect flower could be imagined.
wax-cup n. the hollow at the top of a burning wax candle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > candle > [noun] > wax candle > hollow in
wax-cup1800
1800 W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 90 463 That the wax-cup of the candle be kept clean, and never suffered to run over.
wax-end n. thread coated with cobblers' wax, used by shoemakers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > making footwear > [noun] > equipment or materials for > materials > thread
lingelc1440
a shoemaker's end1598
taching end1611
rosin-enda1826
wax-end1825
waxed-end1914
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Wax-end, the waxed thread used by cordwainers.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist I. vii. 106 ‘I will not, sir,’ replied the beadle, adjusting the wax-end which was twisted round the bottom of his cane for purposes of parochial flagellation.
1888 G. M. Fenn Dick o' the Fens 68 I could mend all this in less than an hour with some wax-ends and a brad-awl.
wax-ended adj. bound with wax-ends.
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the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > binding or tying > [adjective] > binding > bound > with specific material
iron-bound1381
iron-boundenc1400
wood-bound1570
wax-ended1839
brass-bound1867
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xiii. 114 A fearful instrument of flagellation, strong, supple, wax-ended, and new.
wax-eye n. Australian and New Zealand = silver-eye n. at silver n. and adj. Compounds 2c; cf. zosterops n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > [noun] > family Zosteropidae > genus Zosterops (white-eye)
white-eye1837
zosterops1867
blight-bird1870
ringeye1871
wax-eye1874
greeny1890
1874 A. Bathgate Colonial Experiences xvii. 239 While some species are seemingly dying out, others, such as the moko-moko and the wax-eye..appear to be increasing.
1957 J. Frame Owls do Cry ix. 39 The wax-eyes hungry for honey, will make their green and yellow cloud to follow her.
† wax-farthing n. Obsolete a farthing paid by parishioners at Easter to provide wax candles for use in church.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > benefice > other financial matters > [noun] > payment made for specific purpose > for providing or maintaining lights
lightscotOE
candle-silver1420
wax-silver1432
wax-shot15..
wax-farthingc1588
c1588 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 255 Every house payd at Easter..j farthynge called a waxfarthinge.
wax-gland n. a gland (in certain insects) secreting wax.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > parts of insects > [noun] > gland and secretion > gland secreting wax
wax-gland1899
1899 D. Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. ii. 589 Certain gall~dwelling Aphidae..possess numerous wax glands.
wax-hair n. one of the long hairs occurring on the bodies of the young of Psyllidæ or flea-lice.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > family Psyllidae > hair on body of young
wax-hair1899
1899 D. Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. ii. 580 In these earlier stages the body [of various Psyllidae] bears long hairs called wax-hairs.
† wax-house n. Obsolete a building in a monastery where wax candles were made.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > monastic property (general) > monastery or convent > parts of monastery > [noun] > where wax candles were made
wax-house1385
1385–6 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 391 In factura unius camini in le Waxhous.
1472–3 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 413 Cum emendacione unius patelle de le Waxhouse, 14d.
wax-insect n. an insect producing wax; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > defined by habits or actions > that produces wax
wax-insect1815
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. x. 329 This account is in the main confirmed by Geomelli Careri, except that he calls the wax-insect a worm which bores to the pith of certain trees.
1857 R. Fortune Resid. among Chinese 147 The wax-insect tree is no doubt a species of ash (fraxinus).
1881 Globe Encycl. VI. 484/1 The Hemipterous family Coccidæ includes the chief wax insects, familiarly known as bark lice.
wax jack n. a contrivance designed for holding a coiled taper with its end ready for lighting, to provide a flame for melting sealing wax.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > material for igniting > [noun] > mechanical device
fire stickc1300
flint-mill1757
fire piston1846
gas poker1855
gas lighter1856
fire drill1861
fire-churn1863
lighter1875
hand drill1891
fire-plough1893
electric wand1898
wax jack1937
1937 Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Mar. 189/2 Such diversities as a coach model, a silver wax-jack and devices of human hair.
1956 G. Taylor Silver v. 114 The wax jack..is a simple framework supporting a horizontal reel which revolves to feed a length of taper up through a central nozzle.
1980 Halcyon Days Catal. 16/1 A bougie box or wax jack (designed to encase a flexible wax taper). South Staffordshire, c. 1770..£520.
wax lathe n. Watchmaking a lathe in which the object to be turned is fastened with shellac or sealing-wax.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > watch > [noun] > making watches > tools or materials used in watchmaking
wig-wag1582
turn-bench1680
fusee-engine1858
parachute1865
fraise1874
pinion-file1875
watch-oil1876
bouchon1881
spotter1881
bench winder1884
knee-punch1884
pinion bottoming file1884
pinion gauge1884
stake1884
wax lathe1884
turner1891
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 139 For many operations required in watch jobbing Mr. Ganney recommends the wax or cement lathe.
wax-leather n. leather ‘waxed’ or finished on the ‘flesh’ side; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > leather > [noun] > leather finished in specific way
red leather1418
black work1587
frieze-leather1594
shagreen1677
chagrin1678
wax-leather1711
patent leather1797
satin leather1802
japanned leather1851
Peau d'Espagne1855
grain-leather1858
suede1878
pebble leather1880
suede leather1882
ooze leather1888
blacking leather1895
grain1895
patent1902
ooze1916
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 48. ⁋4 I am mounted in high-heel'd Shoes with a glased Wax-leather Instep.
1852 C. Morfit Art of Tanning, Currying, & Leather-dressing (1853) 152 Wax leather is blackened in the flesh.
1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 278/1 Wax leather, the serviceable leather for the upper parts of men's boots.
† wax-man n. Obsolete the officer of a trade guild who collected the contributions of the members for the wax candles to be used in the processions.
wax-moth n. a moth whose larva preys on the honeycomb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Pyralidae > member of genus Galleria
wax-moth1766
bee-moth1829
hive-moth1931
1766 Compl. Farmer at Bee A small caterpillar, termed the wax-worm, or wax-moth, because of the havock it makes on wax.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. xii. 390 The wax-moth larva (Galleria Cereana) will for want of wax eat paper, wafers, wool, etc.
1877 J. G. Wood Nature's Teachings 151 The Wax-moth, or Galleria-moth (Galleria alvearia)..is in its larval state extremely injurious to beehives.
wax-mould n. †(a) a mould for running melted wax into; (b) a mould made of wax.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for making other articles > [noun] > candle-making equipment
candle-mould1566
wax-moulda1679
stick1711
hot closet1798
port1839
broach1875
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for working with other materials > [noun] > with wax
wax-moulda1679
society > occupation and work > equipment > other specific types of equipment > [noun] > moulds or shaping equipment
mouldc1330
share mould1568
matrice1587
matrix1626
form1655
ice mould1781
intaglio1825
hand mould1829
striker1843
wax-mould1849
Savoy mould1866
snap-flask1875
moulding board1882
pipe diea1884
injection mould1945
shell-mould1950
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [noun] > cast or impression > mould > type or part of
mould1530
wax-mould1849
undercut1909
a1679 J. Moore Englands Interest (1703) 137 First provide necessary Instruments, as..Honey-Pots, Wax-Molds.
1849 G. W. Francis Art of Modelling Waxen Flowers 16 Wax moulds for plaster casting, or the electro-type, should have [etc.].
wax museum n. a waxworks; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > modelling > [noun] > model > in wax > specific collection
pantheon1711
waxwork1763
Chamber of Horrors1856
wax museum1963
1963 V. Nabokov Gift i. 35 A Russian foodshop, which was a kind of wax museum of the old country's cuisine.
1981 J. Valin Dead Letter viii. 68 There was something a little scarey about this artificial paradise... The place had the shallow charm of a wax museum.
wax-myrtle n. = wax-berry n. (a).
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > myrica and allies > [noun]
galec1000
Dutch myrtle1597
sweet willow1597
gow1598
sweet-gale1640
candle-tree1692
candleberry tree1731
tallow shrub1770
myrica1791
wax-tree1791
wax-plant1801
wax-myrtle1813
Comptonia1823
tallow-bush1835
wax-berry1835
sweet fern1849
bog myrtle1866
meadow fern1876
flea-wood1892
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. iii. 84 Wax..is procured in abundance from the berries of the wax myrtle.
1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. (10th Census IX) 136 Myrica cerifera..Bayberry. Wax Myrtle.
wax-nose n. a ‘nose of wax’ (see nose n. 9).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > inconstant person or thing > inconstant person
starter1519
changeling1539
flirt1577
Protean1598
weathercock1598
changerc1600
mooncalf1607
minute jacka1616
a nose of wax1821
sugar stick1825
wax-nosea1843
in-and-outer1905
brainstormer1907
a1843 R. Southey Common-place Bk. (1851) 4th Ser. 11/1 It is fitter for the dotage dreams of Sir William Jones, than the visions of the poet. Let the wax-nose be tweaked by Volney on one side and Maurice on the other!
wax-nosed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > weak in character or will
nesheOE
feeblec1200
softc1275
weaka1425
infirm1526
lithya1533
unheaded1577
spiritless1595
pappy1597
irresolute1600
marrowless1607
seducible1613
wax-nosedc1615
unsinewy?1623
reedy1628
swayable1642
short-spirited1647
weak-headed1654
lath-backed1676
will-less?1680
tiffany-trader1702
weak-minded1716
lax1751
lax-fibred1762
nerveless1783
wishy-washy1801
marcid1822
molluscous1836
boneless1848
weedy1849
putty-headed1857
flabby1862
weak-kneed1863
fibreless1864
invertebrate1867
chinless1881
backboneless1882
featherweight1885
spineless1885
weak-willed1885
totter-kneed1887
akratic1896
effete1905
weakling1906
gutless1915
willowish1919
Milquetoast1932
nannified1960
ball-less1967
c1615 J. Sylvester Mem. Mortalitie ii. xciv Let's leave out I, and No, in Conversation: Words now transposed, and wax-nosed, Both.
wax-oil n. Chemistry (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > oil from wax
butter of wax1662
cerin1850
wax-oil1852
mahua oil1854
mahua butter1889
1852 J. M. Honigberger 35 Years in East I. 69 I kept the wound open for several days, and ordered the swollen parts to be embrocated with wax-oil.
1868 H. Watts Dict. Chem. (1877) V. 1036 [Beeswax gives off wax-butter, and] afterwards a more and more liquid oil, called wax-oil, still retaining a small quantity of solid matter.
† wax-opal n. Obsolete (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > opal > [noun] > varieties of
girasol1588
oculus mundi1661
eye of the world1730
hydrophane1784
cacholong1791
pitchstone1794
pyrophane1794
semi-opal1794
fire opal1811
sun opal1818
isopyre1827
alumocalcite1832
jasper-opal1843
opal jasper1848
resin opal1850
pitch opal1861
jasp-opal1868
opal-agate1868
harlequin1873
harlequin opal1887
wax-opal1896
potch1897
pinfire1902
moss opal1904
nobby1919
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > tectosilicate > [noun] > quartz > amorphous quartz or opal > others
girasol1588
oculus mundi1661
hydrophane1784
cacholong1791
pitchstone1794
pyrophane1794
semi-opal1794
wood-stone1794
fire opal1811
wood-opal1816
sun opal1818
isopyre1827
jasper-opal1843
opal jasper1848
resin opal1850
natural glass1853
pitch opal1861
vitrite1866
jasp-opal1868
opal-agate1868
pearl opal1872
harlequin1873
harlequin opal1887
wax-opal1896
potch1897
moss opal1904
nobby1919
1896 A. H. Chester Dict. Names Minerals Wax-opal, an early name for yellow opal with a waxy lustre.
wax-painting n. encaustic painting.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to medium or technique > [noun] > a mural painting > encaustic wax-painting
cerography1593
encaustic1601
wax-painting1854
1854 F. W. Fairholt Dict. Terms Art Wax Painting. This art practised by the ancients under the name of Encaustic, has lately been revived in several countries.
1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 75 Various attempts have been made to re-introduce wax-painting; but the art of pencillum-encaustic, as practised by the ancients, seems to be lost.
wax-palm n. a name for two South American wax-yielding palms, Ceroxylon andicola and Corypha or Copernica cerifera.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants yielding other vegetable materials > [noun]
agar-agar1769
wax-palm1830
jelly-plant1866
guar1882
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > other palms
prickly palm1666
thorny palm1666
palm1681
sagwire1681
wine-palm1681
prickle-palm1684
prickly pole1696
brab1698
palmyra1698
thatch-tree1756
double coconut1775
nibong1779
nipa1779
rhapis1789
cocorite1796
groo-groo1796
borassus1798
cohune1805
traveller's tree1809
tucum1810
gomuti1811
taliera1814
lontar1820
salak1820
ground-rattan1823
geonoma1824
tucuma1824
nikau1827
wax-palm1830
murumuru1834
piassava1835
traveller's palm1850
bangalow1851
inajá palm1853
jacitara1853
peach palm1853
pupunha palm1853
jipijapa1858
urucuri1860
climbing palm1863
sea-apple1864
Alexandra palm1865
coquito1866
thatch1866
thatch-palm1866
açai1868
walking-stick palm1869
kentia1870
toquilla1877
Guadalupe palm1895
tortoiseshell palm1902
pimpler1909
1830 J. Lindley Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. 282 The Ceroxylon andicola, or Wax Palm of Humboldt, has its trunk covered by a coating of wax, which exudes from the spaces between the insertion of the leaves.
1882 J. Smith Dict. Pop. Names Plants 436 Wax Palm. There are two so called: 1. Copernicia cerifera, a fan palm native of Brazil... 2. Ceroxylon andicola, a tall wing-leaved palm, native of the elevated regions of New Grenada.
wax-paper n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > [noun] > coated papers
porcelain paper1829
wax-paper1844
silver paper1875
lead-paper1890
tar-paper1891
baryta paper1900
coated paper1902
flint paper1916
everdamp1922
silver-foil1944
1844 R. D. Hoblyn Dict. Terms Med. & Collateral Sci. (ed. 2) Wax~paper. Charta cerata. Melt, in a water-bath, 48 parts each of white wax and fine turpentine, and 32 parts of spermaceti, and spread on paper.
wax pear n. a variety of pear of a wax-like colour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of
calewey1377
honey peara1400
pome-pear1440
pome-wardena1513
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
worry pear1562
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
pound pear1585
poppering1597
wood of Jerusalem1597
muscadine1598
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
mollart1600
roset1600
wax pear1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
Venerian pear1601
musk pear1611
rose pear1611
pusill1615
Christian1629
nutmeg1629
rolling pear1629
surreine1629
sweater1629
amber pear1638
Venus-pear1648
horse-pear1657
Martin1658
russet1658
rousselet1660
diego1664
frith-pear1664
maudlin1664
Messire Jean1664
primate1664
sovereign1664
spindle-pear1664
stopple-pear1664
sugar-pear1664
virgin1664
Windsor pear1664
violet-pear1666
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
squash pear1676
rose1678
Longueville1681
maiden-heart1685
ambrette1686
vermilion1691
admiral1693
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
pounder pear1697
vine-pear1704
amadot1706
marchioness1706
marquise1706
Margaret1707
short-neck1707
musk1708
burree1719
marquis1728
union pear1728
Doyenne pear1731
Magdalene1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
Monsieur Jean1736
muscadella1736
swan's egg1736
chaumontel1755
St Michael's pear1796
Williams1807
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
Bartlett1828
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
snow-pear1860
Comice1866
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
snowy pear1884
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlix. 537 The best..perrie is made of little yellow waxe peares.
wax pigment n. a pigment prepared with wax.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > types of
lac1558
purpurin1558
colourish1598
earth1598
watercolour1598
earth colour1658
encaustic1662
lake1684
virgin tint1706
mosaic gold1746
bronze1753
gold bronze1769
cake colour1784
musive gold1796
sap-colour1816
repaint1827
moist colour1842
bronze powder1846
wax-colour1854
wax pigment1854
bitumen1855
chrome garnet1876
zinc-dust1877
zinc-powder1881
terra nera1882
earth pigment1900
1854 F. W. Fairholt Dict. Terms Art (at cited word) This medium is employed in making the cakes of wax-pigments for water~colours.
wax-pine n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular tree or plant yielding useful gum or resin > [noun] > dammar tree
amboyna wood1738
kauri1823
dammar tree1832
wax-pine1891
1891 Cent. Dict. Wax-pine, the general name for the species of Agathis (Dammara), coniferous trees producing a large amount of resin.
wax-pink n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pinks or carnations
gillyflower1517
carnation1538
clove gillyflower1538
incarnation1538
William1538
pink1566
John1572
Indian eye1573
sops-in-wine1573
sweet John1573
sweet-william1573
tuft gillyflower1573
Colmenier1578
small honesty1578
tol-me-neer1578
London tuft1597
maidenly pink1597
mountain pink1597
clove-carnation1605
musk-gillyflower1607
London pride1629
pride of London1629
maiden pink1650
Indian pink1664
Spanish pink1664
pheasant's eye pink1718
flake1727
flame1727
picotee1727
old man's head1731
painted lady1731
piquet1731
China-pink1736
clove1746
wild pink1753
lime-wort1777
matted thrift1792
clove-pink1837
Cheddar Pink1843
Dianthus1849
bunch pink1857
perpetual-flowering carnation1861
cliff pink1863
meadow pink1866
musk carnation1866
Jack1873
wax-pink1891
Malmaison1892
grenadin1904
1891 Cent. Dict. Wax-pink, a name for garden species of Portulaca: so called from their wax-like leaves and showy flowers.
wax-pocket n. Entomology each of the sacs on the abdomen of the bee, for receiving the wax secreted by the wax-glands.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > wax > sac on abdomen for receiving
wax-pocket1815
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. xv. 492 The apparatus in which the wax is secreted consists of four pair of membranous bags or wax-pockets.
wax-pod bean n. a dwarf French bean belonging to any of several varieties having yellow, stringless pods; a butter-bean.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > bean > kidney beans or kidney bean plants
French bean1542
kidney bean1548
fasels1562
frijoles1568
Welsh bean1585
longbean1587
cock stone1631
haricot1653
string-bean1759
snap-bean1770
bunch-bean1787
butter bean1820
bush-bean1821
snaps1845
navy bean1851
cannellini1862
flageolet1877
wax bean1905
pinto bean1913
wax-pod bean1921
borlotti1932
1913 L. C. Corbett Garden Farming ix. 136 A different variety..may have either green or wax pods.]
1921 Culture of Vegetables & Flowers (Sutton & Sons) (ed. 16) 24 Many visitors to the Continent have learned to appreciate the fine qualities of the Waxpod Beans.
1951 Dict. Gardening (Royal Hort. Soc.) I. 244/1 Pods without green colouring…are known as waxpod or Butter Beans, but they are not to be confused with the Butter Beans of the grocer.
1962 Amateur Gardening 5 May 19 The golden waxpod beans have always attracted a good deal of attention.
wax print n. cloth patterned by a batik process.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [noun] > printed > in specific way
roller print1846
madder-print1890
screen print1928
wax print1969
1969 Times 24 Nov. (Congo Suppl.) p. iv/3 English Calico is planning a factory to manufacture 20m. yards of ‘wax prints’ a year.
1979 Guardian 8 June 17/3 Accra's famous market mammies have their stalls..broken into..and their contents—waxprint cloth, provisions,..taken away.
wax rose n. a variety of rose whose petals have a waxy appearance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > rose and allied flowers > rose > types of rose flower or bush
summer rosea1456
French rose1538
damask rose?a1547
musk rose1559
province1562
winter rose1577
Austrian brier1590
rose of Provence1597
velvet rose1597
damasine-rose1607
Provence rose1614
blush-rose1629
maiden's blush1648
monthly rose tree1664
Provinsa1678
York and Lancaster rose1688
cinnamon rose1699
muscat rose1707
cabbage rose1727
China-rose1731
old-fashioned rose1773
moss rose1777
swamp rose1785
alba1797
Cherokee rose1804
Macartney rose1811
shepherd's rose1818
multiflora1820
prairie rose1822
Boursault1826
Banksian rose1827
maiden rose1827
moss1829
Noisette1829
seven sisters rose1830
Dundee rambler1834
Banksia rose1835
Chickasaw rose1835
Bourbon1836
climbing rose1836
green rose1837
hybrid China1837
Jaune Desprez1837
Lamarque1837
perpetual1837
pillar rose1837
rambler1837
wax rose1837
rugosa1840
China1844
Manetti1846
Banksian1847
remontant1847
gallica1848
hybrid perpetual1848
Persian Yellow1848
pole rose1848
monthly1849
tea rose1850
quarter sessions rose1851
Gloire de Dijon1854
Jacqueminot1857
Maréchal Niel1864
primrose1864
jack1867
La France1868
tea1869
Ramanas rose1876
Japanese rose1883
polyantha1883
old rose1885
American Beauty1887
hybrid tea1890
Japan rose1895
roselet1896
floribunda1898
Zéphirine Drouhin1901
Penzance briar1902
Dorothy Perkins1903
sweetheart1905
wichuraiana1907
mermaid1918
species rose1930
sweetheart rose1936
peace1944
shrub rose1948
1837 T. Rivers Rose Amateur's Guide 18 Duchess d'Angoulême, or the wax rose, is an old but deservedly favourite variety.
† wax shoe n. Obsolete a shoe made of waxed leather (cf. wax boot n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > made from specific material > skin or hide > other
hemmingc1050
wax shoe1664
suede shoe1882
1664 A. Wood Life & Times (1892) II. 20 For a paire of wax shoes [cf. below 1666, waxt shoes], 4s 4d.
1692 in A. W. C. Hallen Acct. Bk. Sir J. Foulis (1894) 144 For 2 pair wax shoes.
† wax-silver n. Obsolete money paid by parishioners at Easter for wax candles to be used in the church.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > benefice > other financial matters > [noun] > payment made for specific purpose > for providing or maintaining lights
lightscotOE
candle-silver1420
wax-silver1432
wax-shot15..
wax-farthingc1588
1432 in J. L. Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford (1882) 3 Et in wexsilver collecto in ecclesia in die Paschali, vijs. viijd.
1496 Cov. Leet Bk. 574 Item, that no maister make no brother to þe Craft yf he haue be prentes in þe Cite no lesse þen xiij s. iiij d. & his wax siluer.
wax tablet n. a board coated with wax, to be written upon with a stylus.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > writing tablet > [noun]
wax-bredc960
tableOE
tabletc1300
writing tablea1451
writing tablet1601
codicil1640
tablette1711
pugillares1729
pugillaries1759
wax tablet1807
tabula1881
1807 F. Douce Illustr. Shakspeare II. 228 The Roman practice of writing on wax tablets with a stile was continued also during the middle ages.
1905 J. B. Bury Life St. Patrick iii. 40 Honoratus sent a messenger across in a boat with a letter on a wax tablet.
wax-weed n. = wax-bush n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Lythraceae (lythrum and allies) > [noun]
grass poly1633
wax-bush1845
Lythrum1862
wax-weed1884
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants i. 144 Wax-weed, Blue, Cuphea viscosissima.
wax-worm n. the larva of the wax-moth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Pyralidae > member of genus Galleria > larva
wax-worm1766
1766 Compl. Farmer at Bee A small caterpillar, termed the wax-worm, or wax-moth, because of the havock it makes on wax.

Draft additions September 2016

wax comb n. Surfing a tool resembling a comb used to create grooves in or roughen up a layer of surf wax on a surfboard so as to increase traction.
ΚΠ
1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 4 July (Great Outdoors section) 10/1 Surfing has moved into the gadget and accessory age. First it was the leg rope, then the wax comb.
2008 Star (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 28 Nov. 31 All shorts have a Velcro back pocket and a small front pocket, and come with an attached wax comb for a surfboard.

Draft additions March 2007

A preparation of wax which is used to remove unwanted body hair (cf. wax v.2 1c). Also: a depilatory treatment using this; frequently with modifying word specifying the area treated, as body wax, leg wax, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > [noun] > hair removal
depilation1547
decalvation1650
epilation1877
electrolysis1882
wax1926
electrology1932
waxing1974
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > [noun] > stripping or uncovering so as to leave bare > stripping or being stripped of hair
depilation1547
pilling1561
decalvation1650
distramination1654
wax1926
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > [noun] > stripping or uncovering so as to leave bare > stripping or being stripped of hair > that which
psilothre?a1425
rusma1585
depilatory1606
pelador1631
psilothrum1661
wax1926
1926 Chicago Tribune 28 Mar. vi. 3/2 One must be sure of the quality of the preparation, since preparations are sold that act like pitch, pulling the skin off with the wax.
1941 Los Angeles Times 7 Oct. ii. 9/3 A schedule that keeps you going from appointments for manicure, pedicure.., facial, leg wax..to any service you may desire.
1991 Hair's How No. 34. 807/3 Hair removal, whether you're using a wax, razor or cream is called depilation.
1993 J. Saunders Absolutely Fabulous iv. 91 I've got to fit in a high colonic and a body wax this afternoon.
2006 P. Williams Rise & Fall Yummy Mummy iii. 30 Maybe I could do with a wax.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

waxn.2

Brit. /waks/, U.S. /wæks/
Etymology: < wax v.1 Compare German wachs.
Now rare exc. dialect.
1. The process of waxing; growth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [noun] > growth
waxa1300
growing1390
upgrowing1430
grow1536
shooting1579
growth1587
a1300 Cursor Mundi 1430 Euer stod þai [sc. þe wandes] still in an, Wit-outen wax, wit-outen wain.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8244 A-boute þat tre, A siluer cercle son naild he, þat was þe stouen for to strength, And knau þe wax o gret and length.
1892 Athenæum 30 Jan. 146/2 ‘On the Wane’ (which should strictly be called ‘On the Wane, on the Wax, and on the Wane Again’).
2. Stature; size (of something growing).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [noun] > growth > size or stature attained by growing
waxa1500
growth1557
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxx. 411 Thou art best on thi wax That euer was clekyt Or knowen.
1618 W. Lawson New Orchard & Garden xi. 36 The boale will be first, and best serued and fed, because he is next the root, and of greatest waxe and substance.
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

waxn.3

Brit. /waks/, U.S. /wæks/
Etymology: Of doubtful origin; possibly evolved from some phrase like to wax angry (archaic), to wax warm (now dialect): see wax v.1 9a(b).
colloquial or slang.
Angry feeling; a fit of anger; chiefly to be in a wax.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > [noun] > fit(s) or outburst(s) of anger
wratha1200
wrethea1400
hatelc1400
angerc1425
braida1450
fumea1529
passion1530
fustian fume1553
ruff1567
pelt1573
spleen1590
blaze1597
huff1599
blustera1616
dog-flawa1625
overboiling1767
explosion1769
squall1807
blowout1825
flare-up1837
fit1841
bust-up1842
wax1854
Scot1859
pelter1861
ructions1862
performance1864
outfling1865
rise1877
detonation1878
flare-out1879
bait1882
paddy1894
paddywhack1899
wingding1927
wing-dinger1933
eppie1987
1854 ‘C. Bede’ Further Adventures Mr. Verdant Green (ed. 2) vii. 61 I used to rush out in a frightful state of wax, and show a leg.
1865 H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons xxxv Can't you get into a wax, old girl?
1874 R. H. Belcher Cramleigh Coll. I. 181 It ain't my fault if you've been bohooin'; so don't be in a wax with me.
1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. 112 What a wax you're in, Dolly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

waxv.1

Brit. /waks/, U.S. /wæks/
Forms: Past tense and participle waxed /wækst/; also past participle waxen. Forms: infinitive Old English weaxan, weacsan, weahsan, weahxan, wexan, wehsan, Middle English wecsen, Middle English, 1500s–1600s archaic wexen, Middle English uexen, wexi, Middle English wix(e, Middle English vexe, wexyn, vix(e, vyx(e, Middle English–1500s wexe, Middle English–1600s (1800s archaic) wex; Middle English wacse(n, Middle English Orm. waxenn, waxxenn, Middle English–1500s waxen, Middle English waxyn, Middle English–1500s Scottish vax, 1500s weaxe, Scottish walx, Middle English–1600s waxe, Middle English– wax. contracted 2nd person singular Old English wyxt, Middle English wext; 3rd person singular Old English weaxt, wexþ, wixt, etc., Middle English west, Middle English wexþ, Middle English wext. past tense singular Old English wéox, wéocs, wéohs, Northumbrian -wóx, Middle English weax, weacs, Middle English wæx, Middle English weox, Middle English wex, Middle English wexe, weex, northern wix, wyx, Middle English northern vex; Middle English wacxs, Middle English–1500s wax, Middle English waxe, Middle English waux; Middle English–1500s (1600s, 1800s archaic) wox, Middle English–1500s (1800s archaic) woxe, Middle English–1500s Scottish vox, Middle English woxse, Middle English Scottish woux, 1500s Scottish woix, wolx. plural Old English wéoxon, wéohson, wéoxson, Northumbrian wóxon, Mercian wéxon, Middle English weoxan, Middle English weoxen, Middle English wexe(n; Middle English wuxen, Middle English wuxe, Middle English woxe(n, Middle English waxen. weak Middle English wast, Middle English wexide, waxide, waxede, plural wexiden, wexeden, Middle English wexedde, wexid, wexte, waxet, waxte, waxhid, plural waxiden, Middle English–1500s waxt, Middle English–1600s wext, wexed, 1500s weaxed, Middle English– waxed. past participle Old English weaxen, Middle English ( ȝe)wexon, Middle English ( i)wexan, Middle English–1500s wexen, Middle English wexe, Middle English wex, wexun, Middle English wexin, wexyn, wixen; Middle English–1600s (1700s–1800s archaic) waxen, Middle English–1500s waxin, Middle English waxyn, wax(e, Middle English ywax, Middle English waxun, waxson, 1500s Scottish walxin; Middle English–1600s woxen, Middle English iwoxe, ywoxe, Middle English woxe, woxin, Middle English ( i)wox, Middle English, 1500s wox, Middle English woxyn, woxsen, Middle English woxun. weak Middle English wexid, Middle English y-wexed, Middle English–1600s wext, 1500s waxt, weaxed, Scottish vaxit, 1500s–1600s wexed, 1500s– waxed.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: A Common Germanic strong verb (which became weak in late Middle English): Old English weaxan (past tense wéox , Northumbrian wóx ; past participle weaxen ) corresponding to Old Frisian waxa (West Frisian waechsje , wachse , North Frisian wāks ), Old Saxon wahsan , (Middle) Dutch wassen , Old High German wahsan (Middle High German, modern German wachsen ), Old Norse vaxa (Swedish växa , Danish vokse ), Gothic wahsjan (with ja- suffix in the present-stem; past tense wōhs , past participle wahsan-s ) < Old Germanic *wa χs- < pre-Germanic *woks- , an ablaut variant of Indogermanic *aweks- , *auks- , *uks- (Greek ἀέξειν , αὔξειν , αὐξάνειν to increase, Sanskrit ukš to grow, perfect va- vakša , causative vakšayati ), an extended form of *aweg- *aug- , *ug- (Latin augēre to increase, Sanskrit ōjas neuter, strength, Lithuanian augu I grow, Old Germanic *auk- in Gothic aukan , Old High German ouhhôn , Old English éacian to grow, increase: see eke v.)The Old Germanic conjugation of the verb is retained in Gothic, Old High German, Old Saxon, and Old Norse; in Old English it is confined to the Northumbrian dialect (past tense wóx); the West Saxon past tense wéox and the Dutch wies are due to the analogy of the reduplicating verbs. The strong past tense became rare after the 14th cent., and is now wholly obsolete; the one or two examples in the poetry of the 18–19th cent. are deliberately archaistic. For the past participle the Bible of 1611 has waxed four times and waxen eight times; in recent use waxen is not unfrequent when the verb is conjugated with to be, but is otherwise very rare.
Originally a more frequent synonym of grow v., which has now superseded it in general colloquial use, except with reference to the moon (see 6). With this exception, the senses below which are not marked as obsolete are confined to literary use, and have, in varying degrees, a somewhat archaic flavour; some of those under branch I survive only in the traditional antithesis with wane v. The verb is said still to be current in certain dialects: see Eng. Dial. Dict.
I. To grow, increase. (Opposed to wane, †wanze.)
1.
a. intransitive. Of a plant or its parts: To increase gradually in size and vigour; to develop, sprout (up). Obsolete exc. dialect †Also, to grow in a specified habitat or situation (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > grow or vegetate [verb (intransitive)] > grow or increase in size
waxc897
growa1000
to get away1813
to grow up1840
to grow away1933
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xl. 293 Sumu twigu he lehte mid wætere, ðonne hie to hwon weoxson, ðæt hie ðy suiður weaxan sceolden.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 402 Rixe weaxst gewunelice on wæterigum stowum.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 161 Hie wenden þe eorðe, and wurpen god sad þaronne, and hit wacxs and wel þeagh.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 494 Corn & frut hom wax inouȝ.
c1381 G. Chaucer Parl. Foules 206 There wex ek euery holsum spice & gres.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xiii. 7 The thornis wexen vp.
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 4772 Lo, þis was a wondirfull werk..þat þai [trees] suld wax soo & wane within a wale time.
14.. in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 54 Tak everferne that waxes on the ake.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 40v When the Corne is ripe..you must then haue it in, that it may rather waxe in the Barne then in the Feelde.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion v. 76 The Stem shall strongly wax, as still the Trunk doth wither.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. (at cited word) The plums are waxing nicedly.
†b. Of a mineral: To be native, be found, in a specified place; = grow v. 2b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > [verb (intransitive)] > be native
waxc1000
growc1400
c1000 Ælfric Genesis ii. 11 Þæt land þe ys gehaten Euilað, þær þær gold wext [L. ubi nascitur aurum].
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. xi. 12 Al þe presciouse Peerles þat in paradys waxen.
2.
a. Of human beings and animals: To increase gradually in size and strength of body and limb. archaic and dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [verb (intransitive)] > grow
waxc1000
thrivec1175
breeda1350
grow1382
springc1384
upgrowc1430
shoot1538
bud1566
eche1567
to start up1570
vegetate1605
excresce1691
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) ii. 40 Soðlice þæt cild weox.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3182 & swiþe wel he wex. & þraf.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15009 Þa children wuxen and wel iðoȝen.
a1300 Havelok 791 Ich am wel waxen.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10613 Als sco wex on hir licame, Sua wex hir loueword and hir fame.
a1400 Coer de L. 2836 For fourty pound men sold an oxe, Though it were but lytyl woxe.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 123 In this nourysshing he waxe and grewe in all beawte, strengthe, and prudence.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 12449 Thies [two sons] were gyuen to the gouernaunce of a gay kyng,..Till þai waxen were of wit & of wight dedis.
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Fourth Bk. Aeneas (1554) iv. sig. Ci Ascanus yet, that waxeth fast beholde.
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 358 You must beware that you take them not before they are somewhat woxen.
1677 in Ray's Corr. (1848) 127 I think they [salmon] wax for five or six years.
1875 F. I. Scudamore Day Dreams 83 For a time he grows and waxes in his stye.
1887 W. Morris tr. Homer Odyssey I. xi. 201 And when nine years they were waxen, nine cubits length outright Was the measure of their bigness.
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) (at cited word) Thy bairn waxes fast, she's taller ivery time I see her.
†b. of a part of the body, the hair, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [verb (intransitive)] > grow > part
waxa1000
shootc1560
a1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 434 His feax weox swa swa wimmanna.
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 9224 Here cloþes ne roted, ne nayles grewe, Ne heere ne wax.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1886) iv. met. iii. 95 Þat oother is chaunged in to a lyoun..and hise nayles and hise teth wexen.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 7257 Wexen was sumdel his hare.
1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. C.jv The Nayles..are alwayes waxing in the extremitie of the fyngers and toes.
†c. Of a morbid growth or disease: To arise and develop on or in the body. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > become diseased [verb (intransitive)] > arise
waxc1000
engenderc1405
c1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 118 Gif nebcorn on wifmannes nebbe wexen.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 213 Þenne..þer waxeð wunde & deopeð intowart þe saule.
a1400–50 Stockh. Med. MS 117 For angenayll þat waxin in feet.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 100 A surgian muste þanne be bisy in al þat he myȝte, þat a crampe ne wexe not in þe wounde.
†3. Of a company, host, people: To increase in numbers. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [verb (intransitive)] > in amount, number, or frequency
waxc897
increasec1315
multiplyc1330
spawnc1400
breed1600
propagate1653
proliferate1915
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xvii. 109 Dryhten cuæð to Noe & to his bearnum: Weahsað ge & monigfaldiað & gefyllað eorðan.
a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 999 And a hi leton heora feonda wærod wexan.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3947 Þatt heoffness here mihhte swa Þurrh hallȝhe sawless waxenn.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 3259 Wexinge euere beþ vre fon, bi water & bi londe.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1255 Þey wil waxe & we schal wanye; When we ben fewe, þey schol be manye.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 1485 Cryst of heuene ȝow alle saue my messagers alle sixe! & ȝut þe vij schulle ȝe haue ȝour felaschip to make wixe.
a1400 K. Alis. (Laud) 6023 Now gynneþ his Oost fast to wexe.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. 147 Will ye haue the multitude waxe, where the maintenance waines?
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xiii. 214 Her people wexing still, and wanting where to build.
a1656 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) 1 Then blessing them, he bade them wex and multiply.
4. Of a person, nation, institution: To advance in power, importance, prosperity, etc. Const. in, †on.
ΚΠ
a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1052 Þa wæx hit [sc. the minster] swiðe on land & on gold & on seolfer.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 17967 Ned iss..Þatt he nu forrþwarrd waxe. & ec iss ned & god off me Þatt i nu forrþwarrd wannse.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10868 Iwhillc mann..Birrþ..þrifenn aȝȝ & waxenn aȝȝ Inn alle gode þinge.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 26 Al-huet þanne þet hi byþ uol wexe and heȝe ycliue ine dyngnetes.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 1666 Al-so mot y waxe.
c1449 R. Pecock tr. St. Jerome in Repressor 322 Sithen the chirche wexid in dignitees, he decrecid in vertues.
1567 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. i. iv. 35 Mali proficiunt: boni deficiunt: The wicked waxe: the godly wane.
1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. iii. i. 51 Now man, that earst Haile-fellow was with beast, Woxe on to weene himselfe a God at least.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) ii. ii. 99 His Pupill age Man-entred thus, he waxed like a Sea. View more context for this quotation
1624 J. Taylor Praise Cleane Linnen Hee is a firme and stable man, and waxeth much oftner then hee wanes.
1690 J. Child Disc. Trade Pref. sig. B2v Land and Trade, which are Twins, and have always, and ever will wax and wane together.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Boadicea 40 Thou shalt wax and he shall dwindle.
1870 J. H. Burton Hist. Scotl. to 1688 VI. lxviii. 401 A democratic party equally hostile to them was waxing in size and strength.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 54 The nation waxed in freedom and friendship and communion of soul.
1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd ii. 85 Now waxeth the son of Sigmund in might and goodliness.
1914 H. H. Henson War-time Serm. xix. 244 Elmham waned as Norwich waxed.
5. Of inanimate things: To increase in size, quantity, volume, intensity, etc. Of water, the sea: To rise, swell; to flow out in a flood. Of day or daylight, night: To grow longer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [verb (intransitive)]
forthwaxa900
wax971
growOE
risec1175
anhigh1340
upwax1340
creasec1380
increasec1380
accreasea1382
augmenta1400
greata1400
mountc1400
morec1425
upgrowc1430
to run up1447
swell?c1450
add1533
accresce1535
gross1548
to get (a) head1577
amount1583
bolla1586
accrue1586
improve1638
aggrandize1647
accumulate1757
raise1761
heighten1803
replenish1814
to turn up1974
971 Blickl. Hom. 245 Þæt wæter weox oþ mannes swuran.
1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) Hi sægon norðeast fir micel & brad wið þone eorðe, & weax on lengþe up on an to þam wolcne.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2472 Hire wambe siþþenn toc To waxenn alls itt birrde.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1918 O þatt daȝȝ biginneþþ uss Þe daȝȝess lihht to waxenn.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1902 Marrchess nahhtess wannsenn aȝȝ & marrchess daȝhess waxenn.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 101 Þear as is muche fur hit waxeð wið winde.
c1290 St. James 136 in S. Eng. Leg. 38 Þe ston bi-gan to wexe a-brod and holuȝ bi-cam a-midde.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 6562 Þe se flode..bigan to wexi uaste ase it deþ atte tide.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 1775 Þe water wex oute ouer þe plains.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 599 Dunes wexen, ðe flod wið-drog.
c1325 Spec. Gy Warw. 1001 Þi mele ne shal wante noht, And þin oyle shal waxen.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. vii. 398 The watters wox as thai war wod.
c1430 Chev. Assigne 158 It [the chain] wexeth in hys honde & multyplyethe swyde.
1598 Chaucers Dreame in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 362v/1 Waxing the sea, comming the flood.
1820 W. Scott Monastery I. v. 168 Whereby I may be obliged to take the river, which I observed to be somewhat waxen.
1869 A. Maclaren Serm. preached in Manch. 2nd Ser. xi. 201 Energy which wanes as the years wax.
1884 Spectator 2 Aug. 1009/2 Glaciers..wax and wane in some mysterious manner.
1888 F. Hume Madame Midas i. iv. 32 Whereon the sacred fire should be kept constantly burning, waxing and waning with the seasons.
6. Of the moon: To undergo the periodical increase in the extent of its visible illuminated portion, characteristic of the first half of the lunation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > advance, progress, or develop [verb (intransitive)] > rise in prosperity, power, or rank
wax971
climba1240
forthgoa1325
arise1340
risec1390
increasea1425
to come upa1475
raise1490
clamber1576
to make one's way1579
grow1622
to get on (also up) in the world1791
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > phase > pass through phase [verb (intransitive)] > wax
wax971
971 Blickl. Hom. 17 Þonne he [the moon] wexeþ, he bið gelic þæm godum men þe ahopað to þæm ecean leohte.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 154 Se mona deð ægðer ge wycxð ge wanað: healfum monðe he bið weaxende, healfum he bið wanigende.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 129 Þe Mone wuneð [read woneð] & waxeð. & nis neauer studefest.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1220 And vnder nethe hir feet. she hadde a moone Wexinge it was, and sholde wanye soone.
c1440 Astron. Cal. (Ashm. 391) Wtyn it is an hoole which shewt by similitude how þe moone wexeþ and wanȝeþ [? read wanzeþ: see Wanze v. 2].
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iv. 140 Though waxing vs-ward, Heau'n-ward thou dost waine.
1781 W. Cowper Expostulation 324 States thrive or wither, as moons wax and wane.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany viii. 110 Twelve moons had waxed and waned.
1865 E. B. Tylor Res. Early Hist. Mankind vi. 133 Grafts are to be set while the moon is waxing.
1914 Blackwood's Mag. Aug. 177/1 The moon was now waxing fast.
7.
a. Of a quality, state of things, activity, wealth, etc.: To become gradually greater or more striking; to increase in potency or intensity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [verb (intransitive)] > in intensity or degree
waxc897
reforce1490
rise1594
fortify1605
strengthena1616
harden1625
intend1655
thicken1672
exasperate1742
intensify1853
thick1879
to hot up1922
to build up1936
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xxxiii. 217 Æghwelces lareowes lar wihxð [Cott. wihst] ðurh his geðylde.
OE Beowulf 1741 Oð þæt him on innan oferhygda dæl weaxeð ond wridað.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3949 Þurrh whatt biforenn drihhtin godd Wurrþshipe waxenn shollde.
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 689 Wit west among his sore An for his sore hit is þe more.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1268 Abimalech sag abraham, Hu welðe him wex and migte cam.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 737 His langure gan wex.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19399 Godds word wex fast [and gre]eu.
1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades i. 17 When so his furie woxe, from skies he did me thro Down by the foote.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 376 His Art still waxing, sweetly marrieth His quau'ring fingers to his warbling breath.
1624 F. Quarles Iob Militant i. 13 As did his Name, his Wealth did daily wex.
1627 M. Drayton Battaile Agincourt 39 Now wexed horror to the very height.
1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic III. iv. iv. 65 Moreover, the discord among the Reformers themselves waxed daily.
b. opposed to wane or †wanze.
ΚΠ
13.. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 263 Worldes catel passet sone, Þat wacset & wansit rit as te mone.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xv. 3 And so my witte wex and wanyed til I a fole were.
1601 2nd Pt. Returne from Pernassus v. iv. 2203 My fortunes cannot wax but they may waine.
1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 41 Some [lies] to remain, and some to perish soon, Or wane and wax alternate like the Moon.
1809–10 S. T. Coleridge Friend (1865) xiv. 63 Its impulses wax as its motives wane.
1826 W. Wordsworth Once I could Hail 42 In that domain Where joys are perfect—neither wax nor wane.
1899 E. J. Chapman Drama Two Lives 9 All life's poor glamours wax and wane.
†8.
a. Of a quality, activity, event, etc.: To come into being, spring up, begin, arise, occur. Also with up. Of the day: To appear, dawn. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [verb (intransitive)] > come into existence
awakenc885
waxc888
arisec950
beOE
comeOE
aspringc1000
atspringOE
growOE
to come upOE
inrisea1300
breedc1385
upspringc1386
takec1391
to come in?c1430
engender?1440
uprise1471
braird?a1500
risea1513
insurde1521
insurge1523
spring1538
to start up1568
exsurge1578
upstart1580
become1605
born1609
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > dawn > [verb (intransitive)]
waxc1300
arise1480
break1597
morrow1839
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. v. §3 Of ðam ðonne onginnað weaxan þa mistas ðe þæt mod gedrefað.
1154 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1140 Þer efter wæx suythe micel uuerre betuyx þe king & Randolf eorl of Cæstre.
c1230 Hali Meid. 3 Hu muche god mihte of inker streon waxen.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 1713 Bituene þe romeins & þis lond þer wax þo striuing.
c1300 K. Horn (Laud) 1452 Þe day by gan to wexe.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) 273 An wid ðat pride him wex a nyð.
c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 3327 Þer wex a kene crie.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxvi. 6 If..temptacyons wax ageynes me.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1886) i. pr. vi. 18 Of which false opyniouns the dirkenesse of perturba[ciouns] wexit [Addit. MS. wexeþ] vp.
c1425 Engl. Conquest Ireland (1896) xi. 26 In thys whyle, wax a grett wreth & a grete stryfe betwyx þe kyng of Connaght, & donoll Obreyn.
†b. to wax forth, to be born or created. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > be born [verb (intransitive)]
arisec950
to come forthOE
to come into (also to) the worldOE
riseOE
breedc1200
kenec1275
birtha1325
to wax forth1362
deliver?c1450
kindlec1450
seed?a1475
issuec1515
arrive1615
born1698
to see the light1752
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. x. 33 For wiþ word þat he warp woxen forþ Beestes.
II. With complement: to change by growth or increase, to become. (Cf. grow v. 12)
9.
a. With adjective complement:
(a) With more or less of the idea of growth or increase: to become gradually, grow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > gradual change > change gradually [verb (intransitive)]
waxc1175
interchange1626
graduate1786
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2479 Þatt ȝho wass waxenn summ del græt. & tatt ȝho wass wiþþ childe.
a1300 Leg. Rood ii. 133 So þat wiþþinne þritti ȝer þis tre wox wel heie.
1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. VIII. 287 Þe Scottes wex [v.r. wuxe] strenger and strenger.
a1400 Octouian 670 Florent ys x. yere old and fyyf, And heghe y-woxe.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 538 Þe sunne was doun & hit wex late.
1422 J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 243 The medys wixen grene.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. i. 8 Bryng ye furth and wax ye mo.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 241v Signifiyng..the dayes to have weaxed longer.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Deut. xxxii. 15 But he that shulde haue bene vpright, when he waxed fat, spurned with his hele [1611 Jesurun waxed fat, and kicked].
1562 A. Brooke tr. M. Bandello Tragicall Hist. Romeus & Iuliet f. 6v This sodain kindled fyre in time is wox so great.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. x. sig. X8v Till that her sisters children, woxen strong, Through proud ambition against her rebeld.
a1625 King James vi & i in S. Hartlib Legacy (1655) 64 According as your plants are waxen strong.
1764 H. Walpole Castle of Otranto v Manfred..pushed on the feast until it waxed late.
a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1859) II. xxxvii. 335 By degrees, our conception waxes fuller.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People viii. §6. 525 The panic waxed greater when it was found they claimed to be acting by the King's commission.
1881 W. Besant & J. Rice Chaplain of Fleet I. ii. 15 Even the foxes and their cubs..had of late waxed fat and lazy.
(b) Without the idea of growth or increase: To become, turn. (Sometimes used with reference to a sudden or immediate change.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change [verb (intransitive)] > pass into state, become
yworthOE
worthOE
goOE
becomec1175
come?a1200
waxc1220
charea1225
aworthc1275
makea1300
fallc1300
breedc1325
grow1340
strikea1375
yern1377
entera1382
turna1400
smitec1400
raxa1500
resolvea1500
to get into ——?1510
waxen1540
get1558
prove1560
proceed1578
befall1592
drop1654
evade1677
emerge1699
to turn out1740
to gain into1756
permute1864
slip1864
c1220 Bestiary 151 If he [the adder] cloðed man se, Cof he waxeð.
13.. K. Horn (Harl.) 302 Vpon Athulf childe rymenild con waxe wilde.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxiv. 12 The charite of manye schal wexe coold.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 34 Whan he wax seke, thei woxen seke.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3563 His blode þan wexus dri and cald.
1422 J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 213 Yf the messager wix dronke.
1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xx. 64 Þe proude lady..wexed red as a rose.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ii. viii. 78 The wyde hallis wolx patent [L. atria longa patescunt].
1540 R. Jonas tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde ii. f. lxxiv Take fyne meale, and bake..tyll it waxe browne.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 344 Ye people..whished & weaxed dumme.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 183 Cornwall..waxeth smaller and smaller in maner of an horn.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iii. ii. 76 What? Art thou like the Adder waxen deafe? View more context for this quotation
1627 M. Drayton Battaile Agincourt 29 Nor aske of God the victory to gaine, Vpon the English wext so poore and fewe.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 29 Deuotion waxed scant amongst the Christians.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 276. ⁋4 My Daughter Tabitha beginneth to wax wanton.
a1770 J. Jortin Serm. (1774) I. ii. 30 When..the inward light waxes dim, the faith is gone.
1815 Ld. Byron Vision Belshazzar iii All bloodless wax'd his look.
1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. i, in Lamia & Other Poems 163 Pale wox I, and in vapours hid my face.
1831 T. B. Macaulay Moore's Life Byron in Ess. ⁋11 The howl of contumely..gradually waxed fainter.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. xxxviii. 6 Mr. Chuckster waxed wroth at this answer.
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate III. ii. 35 Captain Aylmer saw that the man was waxing angry.
1880 W. Watson Prince's Quest 61 Whereat the eyes of heaven wox thundrous-dim.
†b. with noun complement. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 281 Þe kinges douther bigan þriue, And wex þe fayrest woman on liue.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde v. 1014 Whan it was woxen eeue.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2931 Þe white beres þat waxen seþþe hertes.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 243 Summe othere..weren quycker in natural witt and waxiden better philsophiris.
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 22 He sawe a peyntour that was waxe a physicien.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 793 Whan any preposycion waxeth an adverbe.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 334 He weaxed a woondreous buisie medler in all causes.
a1550 A pore helpe 269 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. III. 262 I feare me he be wext A popistant stout.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares M 3 In three Tearmes, of a banqrout he wexeth a great landed man.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 21 It beginning now to waxe night, they gaue off play.
1869 C. Thirlwall Serm. in Rem. (1878) III. 390 When the grain of mustard seed has waxed a great tree.
c. with complement an adverb or a prepositional phr.
ΚΠ
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 140 He wex to a werwolf.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xi. 111 In a were gan I waxe and with myself to dispute.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19451 Þan wex þaa wreches vte of wite.
c1420 Chron. Vilod. 4551 Þe meyst..woxse in to so fayre and so bryȝt a day.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Mark iv. 32 It waxith in to a tre.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 773/1 I dare eate no crabbes, for my tethe wyll waxe and edge than.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10824 Oft in wanton werkes wex þai with childe.
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints sig. P4 Whereby the Ape in wondrous stomack woxe.
1831 G. P. R. James Philip Augustus xxvii It was now waxing towards morning.
1864 J. H. Burton Scot Abroad II. i. 78 A dangerous position, apt to wax from pleasant warmth into deadly heat.
1870 M. D. Conway Earthward Pilgrimage i. 21 As time waxed on, I perceived that [etc.].
1892 R. L. Stevenson Across Plains x. 276 A small taste..waxes with indulgence into an exclusive passion.
1914 S. Phillips in Contemp. Rev. Oct. 552 Must that wistful dawn ne'er wax to noon?
†d. to wax in age or eld, to advance in years. Similarly, to wax to man's estate. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [verb (intransitive)] > advance in age
forthgoa1325
throc1325
to wax in age or eld1340
grow1477
aspire1576
accrue1586
the world > people > person > adult > be adult [verb (intransitive)] > become adult > become adult man
bearda1425
to wax to man's estate1590
unboy1611
to write oneself man1641
1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 943 A weih woxen on elde.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 727 That, as they wex in age, wex here loue.
a1400 St. Alexius (Laud 622) 136 Þe more he wex in elde & lengþe, To seruen god he dude his strengþe.
1588 R. Greene Pandosto sig. D As it [sc. the child] waxed in age, so it increased in beauty.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. x. sig. X6v When her sonne to mans estate did wex.
1916 G. W. Robinson Willibald's Life St. Boniface ii. 31 After he waxed in age..and the glory of boyhood came.
†e. Of fire. to wax out: to burn out, be extinguished for want of fuel. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > extinguishing fire > become extinguished [verb (intransitive)]
quench?c1225
aquencha1250
to wax outc1400
slockc1485
slocken1535
to burn out, forth1597
extinguish1599
squench1643
to blow out1842
c1400 Melayne 463 The fire wexe owte at þe laste.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 686/2 If a fire that hath but little woode, wax out, wee put the brandes together, and blowe it, that it may burne.
†10. With complement a numeral: to amount to (a specified number). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > amount to a quantity or amount [verb (transitive)]
waxc1330
amountc1350
amount1399
to make up1504
to run to ——1528
to make out1535
sum1609
amound1642
tella1794
size1917
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 13327 A legion ys of folk þat wex Sex þousand, sex hundred sexti & sex.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 13937.

Draft additions March 2006

intransitive. To speak or write (increasingly) in the manner specified; esp. in to wax lyrical, to wax eloquent. Cf. sense 9a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > speak in a particular manner [verb (intransitive)] > speak pleasingly > eloquently
to say or talk turkey1824
to wax eloquent1842
to wax lyrical1911
1842 Times 2 Nov. 5/3 The gallant colonel then gallantly waxed eloquent in praise of women.
1892 ‘M. Field’ Stephania 2 O sorry sight! A Roman Emperor Deigns to wax eloquent, and by persuasion Has oped the city-gates.
1911 G. Cannan tr. R. Rolland Jean-Christophe in Paris 60 He had the genius of taste except at certain moments when the Massenet slumbering in the heart of every Frenchman awoke and waxed lyrical.
1978 E. Blishen Sorry, Dad III. iii. 114 Stationing himself at a window, he would wax more and more satirical and sarcastic about what he could see of the Boltons' domestic arrangements.
1984 C. James Flying Visits 13 The writer becomes less and less inclined to wax sententious.
1996 C. J. Stone Fierce Dancing xii. 184 Debby began waxing lyrical about the food. It was something else she told me.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

waxv.2

Brit. /waks/, U.S. /wæks/
Forms: Also Middle English wexe, past participle wexed, wexyd, ywexede.
Etymology: < wax n.1The Middle English form wexe may be an umlaut derivative (= Old Norse vexa , Old High German wahsen , Middle High German wihsen modern German wächsen , wichsen ); but this is not certain, because wex was a frequent form of wax n.1
1.
a. transitive. To cover with a layer of wax; to dress with wax; to polish or stiffen with a dressing of wax. Also with over.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with coating or covering materials > work with coating or covering materials [verb (transitive)] > wax
waxa1380
cere1490
waxen1552
a1380 [implied in: St. Augustine 387 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 68 In a waxed table He wrot. (at waxed adj. a)].
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. lxi. 1323 Tables ben ywexed and yhight wiþ wex, and ben yplaned.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. lxi. 1323 For dyuers vse lynnene cloþes beþ ywexed.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §40. 49 Tho tok I & wexede my label in Maner of a peyre tables.
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) xxi A good hunters horne shuld..be wele ywexede, þikker or þinner, after at þe hunter þinketh þat it woll best sowne.
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) xxi Þai one manere [of horn] is waxed with grene wex and gretter of sowne.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Cirer, to waxe.
1615 J. Loiseau de Tourval tr. H. de Feynes Exact Surv. E. Indies 40 As a Shoemaker waxeth his thread.
1659 E. Gayton Walk Knaves, Walk 8 You are to take notice..next of the manner, how to wax your winter boots.
a1660 T. Powell Humane Industry (1661) 56 Smal boards or tables of wood waxed over, were in frequent use among the later Romans to write in.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 745 Many cabinet-makers are contented with waxing common furniture.
1834 S. Smith Sel. Lett. Major Jack Downing lxvii. 181 With that I wax'd a thread, and got a new button.
1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son liv. 537 The floors were waxed and polished.
1863 M. E. Braddon Aurora Floyd I. iii. 55 The elegant ignoramus whose sole accomplishments consist in parting his hair, waxing his moustaches, and smoking a meerschaum.
1886 J. H. Keene Fishing Tackle 160 Waxing your silk afresh, fasten it with two loops.
†b. Photography. To saturate (paper) with wax. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > treatment of plates, films, or paper > [verb (transitive)]
mercurialize1843
actinize1844
albumenize1850
sensitize1851
wax1853
develop1859
sensibilize1860
organify1873
back1878
salt1878
excite1879
talc1888
alum1889
bleach1889
fume1890
orthochromatize1890
flash1903
pre-expose1925
hypersensitize1954
panchromatize1960
1853 Le Gray's Waxed Paper Process 5 The paper..after the development of the image..does not require to be again waxed to obtain a positive picture.
1856 Orr's Circle of Sci., Pract. Chem. 146 Mode of Waxing the Negatives.
c. To remove unwanted hair from (legs, etc.) by applying hot wax and then peeling off wax and hairs together.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify (the hair) [verb (transitive)] > remove hair
ungrayhair1639
epilate1886
wax1953
1953 W. P. McGivern Big Heat x. 134 When the boys talk business I go out and get my legs waxed.
1971 Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. (Home Jrnl.) 12/2 I would also like my legs waxed.
1977 J. Didion Bk. Common Prayer v. ix. 232 Carmen Arrellano had been having her legs waxed in the Caribe beauty shop.
†2. To stop (an aperture) with or as with wax. Also with up. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > close an aperture or orifice > in other specific ways
wax1377
gypsec1420
lute1495
wall1503
to brick up1606
butter1808
to brick off1836
to board up1885
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. v. 351 Alle þat herde þat horne..wissheden it had be wexed with a wispe of firses.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World viii. 231 Some of them that had not waxt up their Cartrage or Catouche Boxes, wet all their Powder.
1709 T. Robinson Vindic. Mosaick Syst. 91 in Ess. Nat. Hist. Westmorland & Cumberland They..fill their little Cells with Honey, and then do so wax it up, that it may not melt and run out.
†3. To join with wax. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > join (together) [verb (transitive)] > join closely, intimately, or permanently > cause to cohere > join together with wax
wax1693
1693 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Metamorphoses i, in Examen Poeticum 63 He form'd the Reeds, proportion'd as they are, Unequal in their length, and wax'd with Care.
4. Leather Manufacturing. To dress (a skin) with a mixture of lamp-black, oil, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with skins > work with skins [verb (transitive)] > treat with grease or oil
liquor1502
dub?1611
shamoy1842
stuff1844
wax1885
dubbin1897
fat1903
fat-liquor1903
1885 A. Watt Art of Leather Manuf. 348 Bruise on the flesh and grain up, then wax them [sc. the skins].
5. To make a gramophone record of (music, etc.); to record. Cf. wax n.1 11 slang (chiefly U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > make recording [verb (transitive)]
phonograph1878
gramophone1908
press1918
to put on wax1932
wax1935
cut1937
tape1950
tape-record1950
audiotape1961
to lay down1967
over-record1977
1935 Melody Maker 12 Oct. 11/4 Mario..took his harp to the Columbia Studios, and there he well and truly waxed a couple of the classics of jazz.
1946 Amer. Jazz No. 1. 13/1 The results are probably nearer to the earliest Dixieland (containing a coloured element) than anything waxed in recent years.
1954 Cleveland Press 7 Aug. (Home Mag.) 31 Gertrude Berg has waxed a comedy duet with Red Buttons for Columbia records.
1976 Daily Times (Lagos) 13 Aug. 18/2 (advt.) Another new LP Record waxed by the Celestial Church of Christ Choir.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

waxv.3

Brit. /waks/, U.S. /wæks/
Etymology: < wax n.3
dialect.
intransitive. to wax up, to burst into anger, ‘flare’ up.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > [verb (intransitive)] > become angry
wrethec900
wrothc975
abelghec1300
to move one's blood (also mood)c1330
to peck moodc1330
gremec1460
to take firea1513
fumec1522
sourdc1540
spitec1560
to set up the heckle1601
fire1604
exasperate1659
to fire up1779
to flash up1822
to get one's dander up1831
to fly (occasionally jump, etc.) off (at) the handle1832
to have (also get) one's monkey up1833
to cut up rough, rusty, savage1837
rile1837
to go off the handle1839
to flare up1840
to set one's back up1845
to run hot1855
to wax up1859
to get one's rag out1862
blow1871
to get (also have) the pricker1871
to turn up rough1872
to get the needle1874
to blaze up1878
to get wet1898
spunk1898
to see red1901
to go crook1911
to get ignorant1913
to hit the ceiling1914
to hit the roof1921
to blow one's top1928
to lose one's rag1928
to lose one's haira1930
to go up in smoke1933
hackle1935
to have, get a cob on1937
to pop (also blow) one's cork1938
to go hostile1941
to go sparec1942
to do one's bun1944
to lose one's wool1944
to blow one's stack1947
to go (also do) one's (also a) dingerc1950
rear1953
to get on ignorant1956
to go through the roof1958
to keep (also blow, lose) one's cool1964
to lose ita1969
to blow a gasket1975
to throw a wobbler1985
1859 E. C. Gaskell Haunted House: Ghost in Garden Room in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 13 Dec. 33/2 Nay, wench, dunna wax up so; whatten's done, 's done.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

waxv.4

Brit. /waks/, U.S. /wæks/
U.S. colloquial.
transitive. ‘To beat thoroughly, gain a decisive victory over’ (Funk).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat > soundly
threshc1384
to knock the socks offa1529
thump1597
thrash1609
thwacka1616
capot1649
to beat to snuff1819
to knock into a cocked hat1830
to —— (the) hell out of1833
sledgehammer1834
rout1835
whop1836
skin1838
whip-saw1842
to knock (the) spots off1850
to make mincemeat of1853
to mop (up) the floor with1875
to beat pointless1877
to lick into fits1879
to take apart1880
to knock out1883
wax1884
contund1885
to give (a person) fits1885
to wipe the floor with1887
flatten1892
to knock (someone) for six1902
slaughter1903
slather1910
to hit for six1937
hammer1948
whomp1952
bulldozer1954
zilch1957
shred1966
tank1973
slam-dunk1975
beast1977
1884 ‘Judge Wiglittle’ 10 Years Police Judge xxii. 199 Mr. Bungle..would in nine [out of twelve cases] be waxed but for the commiseration and the magnanimity of [etc.].
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Wax, to beat, thrash.

Draft additions 1993

b. To kill; to murder. Cf. waste v. 4c. slang (originally Military).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (transitive)]
swevec725
quelmeOE
slayc893
quelleOE
of-falleOE
ofslayeOE
aquellc950
ayeteeOE
spillc950
beliveOE
to bring (also do) of (one's) life-dayOE
fordoa1000
forfarea1000
asweveOE
drepeOE
forleseOE
martyrOE
to do (also i-do, draw) of lifeOE
bringc1175
off-quellc1175
quenchc1175
forswelta1225
adeadc1225
to bring of daysc1225
to do to deathc1225
to draw (a person) to deathc1225
murder?c1225
aslayc1275
forferec1275
to lay to ground, to earth (Sc. at eird)c1275
martyrc1300
strangle1303
destroya1325
misdoa1325
killc1330
tailc1330
to take the life of (also fro)c1330
enda1340
to kill to (into, unto) death1362
brittena1375
deadc1374
to ding to deathc1380
mortifya1382
perisha1387
to dight to death1393
colea1400
fella1400
kill out (away, down, up)a1400
to slay up or downa1400
swelta1400
voida1400
deliverc1400
starvec1425
jugylc1440
morta1450
to bring to, on, or upon (one's) bierc1480
to put offc1485
to-slaya1500
to make away with1502
to put (a person or thing) to silencec1503
rida1513
to put downa1525
to hang out of the way1528
dispatch?1529
strikea1535
occidea1538
to firk to death, (out) of lifec1540
to fling to deathc1540
extinct1548
to make out of the way1551
to fet offa1556
to cut offc1565
to make away?1566
occise1575
spoil1578
senda1586
to put away1588
exanimate1593
unmortalize1593
speed1594
unlive1594
execute1597
dislive1598
extinguish1598
to lay along1599
to make hence1605
conclude1606
kill off1607
disanimate1609
feeze1609
to smite, stab in, under the fifth rib1611
to kill dead1615
transporta1616
spatch1616
to take off1619
mactate1623
to make meat of1632
to turn up1642
inanimate1647
pop1649
enecate1657
cadaverate1658
expedite1678
to make dog's meat of1679
to make mincemeat of1709
sluice1749
finisha1753
royna1770
still1778
do1780
deaden1807
deathifyc1810
to lay out1829
cool1833
to use up1833
puckeroo1840
to rub out1840
cadaverize1841
to put under the sod1847
suicide1852
outkill1860
to fix1875
to put under1879
corpse1884
stiffen1888
tip1891
to do away with1899
to take out1900
stretch1902
red-light1906
huff1919
to knock rotten1919
skittle1919
liquidate1924
clip1927
to set over1931
creasea1935
ice1941
lose1942
to put to sleep1942
zap1942
hit1955
to take down1967
wax1968
trash1973
ace1975
1968 Daily Express 12 Feb. 2/5 The Vietnam slang goes like this... Zap or wax— to kill or destroy.
1979 J. D. MacDonald Green Ripper (1980) xv. 210 ‘So you waxed eight of them?’ ‘Nine. There's one buried over a week ago.’
1982 L. Block Eight Million Ways to Die (1983) xxxii. 299 Colombians..go for the whole family... A whole family gets waxed because somebody burned somebody else in a coke deal.
1985 ‘J. Godey’ Fatal Beauty ix. 112 Would he wax a couple of cops if they got in his way?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1805n.2a1300n.31854v.1c888v.21377v.31859v.41884
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