| 释义 |
wax
I. \ˈwaks\ noun
(-es)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English wax, wex, from Old English weax; akin to Old High German wahs wax, Old Norse vax, Lithuanian vaškas wax, and probably to Old High German wiohha lint, wick — more at wick
1.
a. : a substance that is secreted by bees by special glands on the underside of the abdomen, deposited as thin scales, and used after mastication and mixture with the secretion of the salivary glands for constructing the honeycomb, that is then glossy and hard but plastic when warm, insoluble in water but partly soluble in boiling alcohol and in ether, and miscible with oils and fats, and that is a mixture consisting of the palmitate of myricyl alcohol and other higher esters, free cerotic acid, and hydrocarbons — called also beeswax
b. : beeswax 2
2. : any of various natural or synthetic substances resembling beeswax in physical properties or chemical composition or both and used chiefly in candles, in coatings (as for paper), and in polishing materials: as
a. : any of a class of substances (as carnauba wax, spermaceti, Chinese wax) of plant or animal origin that differ from fats in being less greasy, harder, and more brittle and in containing principally esters of higher fatty acids and higher monohydroxy alcohols instead of glycerol, free higher acids and alcohols, and saturated hydrocarbons — see vegetable wax, wax insect
b. : a solid substance (as ozokerite or paraffin wax) of mineral origin consisting usually of higher hydrocarbons : mineral wax
c. : a pliable or liquid composition that may or may not contain wax and is used especially in uniting surfaces, excluding air, making patterns or impressions, or producing a waxlike polished surface
< etching wax >
< dental waxes >
< floor waxes >
d. : a resinous preparation used by shoemakers for rubbing thread
3. : something likened to wax as soft, impressionable, or readily molded
< thy noble shape is but a form of wax, digressing from the valor of a man — Shakespeare >
4. : sealing wax
5. or wax white : a pale to grayish greenish yellow
6. : a waxlike product secreted by plants
7. : cerumen
8. : a substance secreted by some scales that is similar to beeswax — see wax insect
9. : a phonograph recording
II. transitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-es)
Etymology: Middle English waxen, wexen, from wax, wex wax
1. : to treat, polish, or rub with wax
< wax a floor >
< wax a thread >
2. : to stiffen with wax
< wax a mustache >
3. : to record on phonograph records
< a vibrato-cluttered duet … waxed 23 years ago — Time >
III. intransitive verb
(waxed ; waxed \-st\ ; or archaic wax·en \-sən\ ; waxing ; waxes)
Etymology: Middle English waxen, wexen, from Old English weaxan, akin to Old High German wahsan to increase, grow, Old Norse vaxa, Gothic wahsjan, Greek auxanein, Latin augēre — more at eke, v.
1.
a. : to increase in size, numbers, strength, prosperity, or intensity : grow larger, fuller, stronger, or more numerous
< mankind, let us hope, will dwindle and die more contented than it ever was when it waxed and struggled — George Santayana >
b. : to grow in volume or duration (as a swelling river or days lengthening in spring)
c. : to grow and develop as an animal or a person does in maturing
d. : to gain in importance or power
< the culmination of the Progressive movement which had been waxing since before the turn of the century — J.A.Huston >
e. : to grow more active or conspicuous : gain in vigor
< rancor waxed among them >
2. : to increase in phase or intensity — used chiefly of the moon, other satellites, and inferior planets; opposed to wane; see moon illustration
3. : to assume a specified characteristic, quality, or state : become
< waxed indignant editorially — America >
< ate enormously and waxed fatter — Edna Ferber >
IV. noun
(-es)
Etymology: Middle English, from waxen to increase, grow
1. : increase, growth
< pileated woodpeckers … are on the wax now and are expected to continue so — Christopher Rand >
2. : the increase in phase or intensity of the moon from new to full or of some other satellite or planet
V. noun
(-es)
Etymology: perhaps from wax (III)
: a fit of temper : rage
< had been in a wax at its loss — John Buchan >
VI. transitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-es)
Etymology: probably from wax (II)
: to get the better of : beat soundly or badly (as in a game) |