wax Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of various substances of either mineral origin or plant or animal origin; they are solid at normal temperatures and insoluble in water
  2. verb cover with wax
    • wax the car
  3. verb go up or advance
    mount; rise; climb.
    • Sales were climbing after prices were lowered
  4. verb increase in phase
    full.
    • the moon is waxing

WordNet

Wax intransitive verb
Etymology
AS. weaxan; akin to OFries. waxa, D. wassen, OS. & OHG. wahsan, G. wachsen, Icel. vaxa, Sw. växa, Dan. voxe, Goth. wahsjan, Gr. to increase, Skr. waksh, uksh, to grow. . Cf. Waist.
Wordforms
imperfect Waxed ; past participle Waxed, and obsolete or Poetic Waxen ; present participle & verbal noun Waxing
Definitions
  1. To increase in size; to grow bigger; to become larger or fuller; -- opposed to wane.
    The waxing and the waning of the moon. Hakewill.
    Truth's treasures . . . never shall wax ne wane. P. Plowman.
  2. To pass from one state to another; to become; to grow; as, to wax strong; to wax warmer or colder; to wax feeble; to wax old; to wax worse and worse.
    Your clothes are not waxen old upon you. Deut. xxix. 5.
    Where young Adonis oft reposes, Waxing well of his deep wound. Milton.
Wax noun
Etymology
AS. weax; akin to OFries. wax, D. was, G. wachs, OHG. wahs, Icel. & Sw. vax, Dan. vox, Lith. vaszkas, Russ. vosk'.
Definitions
  1. A fatty, solid substance, produced by bees, and employed by them in the construction of their comb; -- usually called beeswax. It is first excreted, from a row of pouches along their sides, in the form of scales, which, being masticated and mixed with saliva, become whitened and tenacious. Its natural color is pale or dull yellow. ✍ Beeswax consists essentially of cerotic acid (constituting the more soluble part) and of myricyl palmitate (constituting the less soluble part).
  2. Hence, any substance resembling beeswax in consistency or appearance. Specifically: -- (a) (Physiol.) Cerumen, or earwax. See Cerumen. (b) A waxlike composition used for uniting surfaces, for excluding air, and for other purposes; as, sealing wax, grafting wax, etching wax, etc. (c) A waxlike composition used by shoemakers for rubbing their thread. (d) (Zoöl.) A substance similar to beeswax, secreted by several species of scale insects, as the Chinese wax. See Wax insect, below. (e) (Bot.) A waxlike product secreted by certain plants. See Vegetable wax, under Vegetable. (f) (Min.) A substance, somewhat resembling wax, found in connection with certain deposits of rock salt and coal; -- called also mineral wax, and ozocerite. (g) Thick sirup made by boiling down the sap of the sugar maple, and then cooling. Local U.S.
Wax transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Waxed ; present participle & verbal noun Waxing
Definitions
  1. To smear or rub with wax; to treat with wax; as, to wax a thread or a table.

Webster 1913