earwaxy

English

Etymology

From earwax +‎ -y.

Adjective

earwaxy (comparative more earwaxy, superlative most earwaxy)

1. (informal) Resembling or characteristic of earwax.
   • 1998, James Finney Boylan, “Amherst College”, in Getting In, New York, N.Y.: Warner Books, →ISBN, page 264:

     The fact that he was willing to stand there looking at the back of her neck, the place where her pearls were linked together with a silver clasp, the pulsing earwaxy sense of her eardrums against his fingertips, all of these ought to count for something.

   • 1998 January 17, Superrdave, “Mosin Nagant....more questions :)”, in rec.guns‎^[1] (Usenet), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     While disassembling it to clean out all that nasty earwaxy cosmoline, I noticed the words "Schweiz Industrie-Gesellschaft, Neuhausen" engraved on the reciever.^[sic]

   • 2003, Alisa Vernon, chapter 1, in The Clearing Season, [Bloomington, Ind.]: 1stBooks, →ISBN, page 4:

     The sounds of happy children’s shoes tramping in the street and on the sidewalks, along with their laughter and excited anticipation of freedom, planted a bitter earwaxy taste in her mouth.

   • 2006 September 10, Xenu-Slave, “Well, THAT was strange...!”, in alt.religion.scientology‎^[2] (Usenet), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     The site found out that if you burn an ear candle outside an ear, it produces a gross orangey earwaxy goo at the bottom to make you think the candle worked and removed your earwax.

   • 2011, Peter Anderson, “Fainters”, in Peter Jerram, Peter Anderson, Cock and Bull Stories: Tales from Two Kiwi Country Vets, Auckland: Random House New Zealand, →ISBN:

     Two of the more common causes of intestinal obstructions in working dogs are ear tags and corn cobs. The bigger Allflex or Nu-Zee type tags must have an irresistible earwaxy, scabby flavour to them when they fall out and dogs can’t resist them.

   • 2012 August 3, Fay Maschler, “The best fast food is on the street, not in the Olympic Park”, in Evening Standard, London, page 16, column 2:

     The McDonald’s cheeseburger was indeed a bum sandwich in every sense of that notion: the tasteless grey disc of beef thin and flat, the cheese earwaxy, and the bread collapsed pap.

   • 2016, Jenny Oliver, The Sunshine and Biscotti Club, London: Carina, Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN, page 167:

     ‘Urgh,’ said Jessica. ‘Campari tastes like earwax.’ / Miles snorted a laugh, which made Jessica blush. / Eve nodded. ‘There’s definitely an earwaxy quality, but I like it.’

2. (informal) Covered with earwax.
   • 1999 February 1, Andrew Welsh, “catdroids spin silently on the spot”, in uk.misc‎^[3] (Usenet), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     She goes through the rubbish in the bathroom looking for used "Q-tips" and then proceeds to eat the cotton and earwaxy bits.

   • 2001 July 20, Vincerama, “What is highest noise reduction rating in earplugs?”, in rec.motorcycles‎^[4] (Usenet), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     They don't get too dirty if you keep them in the case, and any earwax on them is from your own ear anyway. As a bonus, any earwax on the earplug is no longer in your ear, so in reality, you are cleaning your ears as you ride! […] Keep the shiny side up and the earwaxy part in!

   • 2001 August 13, analogkid, “Ear candling”, in rec.audio.high-end‎^[5] (Usenet), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     The candles work by wicking the wax from the ear by capillary action, not vacuum effect. She said the earwaxy wicks when removed were rather disgusting to look at.

   • 2004 January 18, Katycren, “Fri. 1/16 Big Show Synopsis”, in alt.fan.letterman‎^[6] (Usenet), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     >>>Participant # 3: Mackie, a student from Gastonia, NC. [[…] Mackie's actually referring to a 'percussive thing.' That is, he's going to pop his ears.]
     >>
     >> I think I would have found a polite way NOT to shake his hand.
     >
     >I was distracted by how *tall* the guy was.
     That too. As I wondered about the imminent earwaxy handshake, I was also trying to figure Mackie's height relative to Dave's.

   • 2004 June 26, Joshua Steinberg, “running, racing and music”, in rec.running‎^[7] (Usenet), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     The nylon earbud covering gets a little earwaxy after a year or two, you can buy cheap replacements.

   • 2004 July 28, Zebee Johnstone, “Helmet Comms”, in aus.motorcycles‎^[8] (Usenet), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     > As for the 'earplug' component, how many times can they be used before
     > they become useless? Normal earplugs last one or two uses, if that.
     If you are an earwaxy sort of ear, clean them with mild detergent each night.

   • 2008, Elizabeth Joy Arnold, Promise the Moon, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 364:

     “Could you do my ear?” / Seth glanced at me, then smiled back. “I can at least try,” he said, peering into both Toby's ears while rooting in his pockets. “But I’m not sure I see anything in there. Although—wait? What’s this?” He reached forward and plucked a coin from behind Toby’s ear. “You’re like an ATM. Except it’s all earwaxy; you better take it.” He handed the coin over.

   • 2010, Robin Palmer, chapter 5, in Little Miss Red, New York, N.Y.: Speak, Penguin Group, →ISBN:

     As I shoved the earbuds in my ears, he pushed play, and the pulse of drums filled my head. / “Ow,” I yelled. / He turned down the volume. / The drums were joined by the wail of a guitar, and I started to bob my head. I usually only like Top 40 dance music, but this sounded amazing. And the skeez factor of sharing earwaxy earbuds wasn’t even bothering me.

   • 2013, James Dashner, “The Kick that Ended a Friendship”, in A Mutiny in Time (Infinity Ring; 1), New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Inc., →ISBN:

     One of the AB Pacifists reached out to grab Sera’s arm, and she ducked. But he managed to catch the side of her head, ripping out Dak’s gross, earwaxy translation device.

   • 2016 March 17, Dueld taJoot, “MSNPC Tresh, "All Items Half Off" (tags Xon, Alal, Mendes)”, in Outpost Eden‎^[9] (Google Groups), archived from the original on 2024-02-27:

     He could have set their plain grey container on a shelf high enough that no bat-eared mutate could have laid eyes on it. As it was, he’d barely heard the little *&^T*&^T pussyfooting toward the open doorway in time to slam the lid back on. And then he’d spent 20 minutes herding the shethrag back toward the front door, while Whatshisname hemmed and hawed and poked and prodded and got his earwaxy paws all over Tresh’s stock.