wax

WOTD - 3 April 2008    

English

Wikipedia ^en

Beeswax

Pronunciation

• enPR: wăks, IPA: /wæks/, SAMPA: /w{ks/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æks
• Homophone: whacks (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Etymology 1

Old English wæx, from Proto-Germanic *wahsan, from Proto-Indo-European *wokso-. Cognate with Dutch was, German Wachs, Norwegian voks; and with Lithuanian vaškas, Russian воск

Noun

wax (plural waxes)

1. Beeswax.
2. Earwax.
3. Any oily, water-resistant substance; normally long-chain hydrocarbons, alcohols or esters.
4. Any preparation containing wax, used as a polish.
5. A phonograph record.

Synonyms

• (beeswax): beeswax
• (earwax): cerumen (medical term), earwax
• (polish): polish
• (phonograph record): disc/disk, record

Derived terms

Terms derived from wax (noun)

ader wax all wax and no wick animal wax anwax baseplate wax bayberry wax beeswax berry wax bikini wax bleached wax blockout wax bone wax Born method of wax plate reconstruction boxing wax Brazil wax Brazilian wax butter of wax California wax myrtle candela wax candelilla wax candle wax Carbowax carding wax carnauba wax carving wax car wax casting wax castor wax ceresin wax cetyl esters wax chafe-wax, chafewax, chaff-wax, chaffwax Chinese wax close as wax cobbler's wax, cobblers' wax crystalline wax cuticle wax dental wax dental inlay casting wax dewax earth wax, earthwax ear wax, ear-wax, earwax emulsifying wax epilating wax esparto wax fig wax Finnish yellow wax fit like wax floor wax fossil wax French wax full up to dolly's wax Geraldton wax ghedda wax glide wax glitterwax gondang wax grafting wax grave wax, grave-wax greater wax moth green wax, greenwax grip wax hair wax

hard wax hot wax hot-wax flooding hot Hungarian wax pepper Hungarian wax pepper inlay casting wax inlay casting wax, inlay pattern wax, inlay wax insect wax Japanese wax Japan wax keratin wax kick wax klister wax lac wax lad of wax, lad o' wax lesser wax moth lost wax man of wax medewax, medwax microcrystalline wax mind your beeswax, mind your own beeswax mineral wax modeling wax, modelling wax montan wax mortuary wax moustache wax myrtle wax neat as wax none of your beeswax nose of wax ouricury wax Pacific wax myrtle palm wax paraffin wax, paraffin-wax Parowax peat wax penetrating stain wax petroleum wax pisang wax plant wax polen wax put on wax release wax rice bran wax rough wax scale wax sealing-wax, sealing wax seal-wax, sealwax set-up wax shellac wax shoemakers' wax ski wax slack wax soybean wax, soy wax spermaceti wax stick to someone like wax surfboard wax surf wax TE/WAX/RAD thermal wax printer tight as wax

try-in wax tubercle bacillus wax unwax utility wax vegetable wax virgin wax walling wax wax acid wax alcohol wax apple wax bath wax bean, waxbean wax begonia wax-berry, waxberry wax-bill, waxbill wax-billed waxbird wax bite wax blockage wax boot wax-bred wax-bush wax-butter wax candle wax cap wax-chandler wax-chandlery, wax-chandry wax cloth, wax-cloth, waxcloth wax-cluster wax-color, wax-colour wax-comb wax crayon wax-creeper wax-cup wax cylinder wax dip wax doll wax emulsion waxen wax end, wax-end wax engraving wax expansion waxey wax-eye wax-farthing wax figure wax flower, wax-flower, waxflower wax form wax-gland wax gourd wax-hair waxhead wax-house waxie wax injection wax injector wax insect, wax-insect wax jack wax jambu wax lancing wax lathe waxleaf privet

wax-leather waxless skis wax light, wax-light wax-like, waxlike wax-maker wax-making wax mallow, waxmallow wax-man wax model denture wax-mold, wax-mould wax moth, wax-moth wax motor wax museum wax myrtle, wax-myrtle wax-nose wax-opal wax painting, wax-painting wax palm, wax-palm wax paper, wax-paper wax pattern wax pear wax pigment wax-pine wax-pink wax plant, wax-plant, waxplant wax play wax pocket, wax-pocket wax-pod bean wax print wax-proofed wax-red wax resist, wax-resist wax ring wax rose wax-scot wax shoe wax-shot wax-silver wax size wax stick wax tablet wax taper wax test wax-tipped bougie wax tree, wax-tree wax-type thermostat wax vine Waxweb wax-weed waxwing wax wood waxwork wax-worker wax-worm, waxworm waxy wax yellow white wax white wax tree the whole ball of wax wool wax yellow wax yellow wax pepper

Translations

beeswax — see beeswax

earwax — see earwax

oily, water-resistant substance

Albanian: dyllë (sq) m. Arabic: شمْعٌ (šámʕu) m. Armenian: մոմ (hy) (mom) Aromanian: tsearã f. Azeri: mum (az) Bosnian: vosak (bs) m. Breton: koar (br) m. Bulgarian: восък (bg) (vosâk) m. Catalan: cera (ca) f. Chinese: 蜡 (là) Croatian: vosak (hr) m. Czech: vosk (cs) m. Dalmatian: caira f. Danish: voks (da) c. Dutch: was (nl) m. Erzya: шта (shta) Esperanto: vakso (eo) Estonian: vaha (et) Finnish: vaha (fi) French: cire (fr) f., fart (fr) m. (for skis) Georgian: სანთელი (ka) (sant‘eli) German: Wachs (de) n. Greek: κερί (el) (kerí) n., κηρός (el) (kirós) m. Hebrew: שעווה (he) Hindi: मोम (hi) (mom) Hungarian: viasz (hu) Icelandic: vax (is) n. Indonesian: lilin (id), malam (id) Italian: cera (it) f.

Japanese: 蝋 (ろう, rō) Korean: 밀랍 (蜜蠟, milrap) Latin: cera (la) f. Latvian: vasks (lv) m. Lithuanian: vaškas (lt) Luxembourgish: Wuess (lb) m. Malay: lilin (ms) Maltese: xama' (mt) Norwegian: voks (no) Novial: vaxe Old English: wæx (ang) Old High German: wahs n. Persian: موم (fa) (mum) Polish: wosk (pl) m. Portuguese: cera (pt) f. Romanian: ceară (ro) f. Russian: воск (ru) (vosk) m. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: восак (sh) m. Roman: vosak (sh) m. Shuar: míkia Slovak: vosk (sk) Slovene: vosek (sl) m. Spanish: cera (es) f. Swedish: vax (sv) Turkish: balmumu (tr), bal mumu (tr) Vietnamese: sáp (vi) Volapük: väk (vo) Welsh: cŵyr (cy) m.

preparation containing wax, used as a polish

Dutch: was (nl) Estonian: vaha (et), poonimisvaha (et) Finnish: vaha (fi)

Greek: κερί (el) (kerí) n. Japanese: ワックス (ja) (wakkusu)

phonograph record

Finnish: savikiekko (fi)

Georgian: ფირფიტაზე ჩანაწერი (p‘irp‘itaze čanats‘eri)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Telugu: మైనం (mainaM) (1,2); గులిమి (gulimi) (3)

Adjective

wax (not comparable)

1. Made of wax.

Synonyms

• waxen

Derived terms

See under the noun section above

Translations

made of wax

Breton: koar (br) Dutch: wassen (nl) Esperanto: vaksa (eo) Finnish: vaha-; vahasta (fi) tehty (fi) French: de cire (fr) German: wächsern (de), Wachs (de)- Greek: κέρινος (el) (kérinos) m.

Italian: di cera (it) Polish: woskowy m., woskowa f., woskowe n. Romanian: de ceară (ro) Russian: восковой (ru) (voskovój) Slovene: voščen (sl) m., voščena (sl) f., voščeno (sl) n. Spanish: de cera (es)

Verb

wax (third-person singular simple present waxes, present participle waxing, simple past and past participle waxed)

1. (transitive) To apply wax to (something, such as a shoe, a floor, a car, or an apple), usually to make it shiny.
2. (transitive) To remove hair at the roots from (a part of the body) by coating the skin with a film of wax that is then pulled away sharply.
3. (transitive, informal) To defeat utterly.
4. (transitive, slang) To kill, especially to murder a person.
   • 2005, David L. Robbins, Liberation Road: A Novel of World War II and the Red Ball Express, page 83:

     "I was reassigned over from the 9th when the battalion CO got waxed on the road leading in." Ben kept his dismay to himself. Here was one more officer in the 90th who'd been on the job only hours or days, replacing commanders killed or wounded....

   • 2009, Dean R. Koontz and Ed Gorman, Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: City of Night, ISBN 9780553593334, p. 106:

     "You telling me you know who really waxed him and your mom?" / "Yeah," she lied. / "Just who pulled the trigger or who ordered it to be pulled?"

Synonyms

• (apply wax to): polish
• (kill (slang)): bump off, knock off, whack

Derived terms

Terms derived from wax (verb)

waxed waxen

waxer waxing

wax up

Translations

apply wax to

Breton: koarañ (br) Czech: voskovat (cs) Danish: vokse (da) Dutch: wassen (nl), was aanbrengen (nl), met was insmeren (nl) Finnish: vahata (fi) French: cirer (fr) German: wichsen (de) (shoes), bohnern (de) (floor) wachsen (de)

Greek: κηρώνω (el) (kiróno) Polish: woskować (pl) Romanian: cera (ro) Scottish Gaelic: cèir (gd), cèirich (gd) Slovene: voskati (sl) Spanish: encerar (es), (shoes) bolear (es)

remove hair from

Finnish: poistaa (fi) vahalla

Greek: κηρώνω (el) (kiróno), αποτριχώνω (el) (apotrichóno)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: vaksi

Etymology 2

Old English weaxan, from Proto-Germanic *wahsijanan, from Proto-Indo-European *wegs-. Cognate with Old Norse vaxa (Danish vokse (spelling before the writing reform of 1948: voxe), West Frisian waakse, Norwegian vokse, Swedish växa), German wachsen, Dutch wassen, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌷𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wahsjan); and with Ancient Greek ἀέξειν, Latin auxilium. It is in its turn cognate with augeo. See eke.

Verb

wax (third-person singular simple present waxes, present participle waxing, simple past waxed or (archaic) wex, past participle waxed or (obsolete) waxen)

1. (intransitive, with adjective) To increasingly assume the specified characteristic, become.

   to wax lyrical; to wax eloquent, to wax wode

   • 1885, H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines, page 72:

     The stars grew pale and paler still till at last they vanished ; the golden moon waxed wan, and her mountain ridges stood out against her sickly face

2. (intransitive, literary) To grow.
   • 1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 1, sc. 3, lines 11-14,

     For nature, crescent, does not grow alone / In thews and bulks, but, as this temple waxes, / The inward service of the mind and soul / Grows wide withal.

3. (intransitive, of the moon) To appear larger each night as a progression from a new moon to a full moon.

Usage notes

• Older forms are: 2nd per. sing, waxest (archaic), 3rd per. sing. waxeth (archaic), and plural form wexen (obsolete).
• Alternative simple past form is wex (obsolete) and the alternative past participle is waxen (obsolete).

Synonyms

• (to assume specified characteristic): become

Antonyms

• (grow): wane
• (of the moon): wane

Derived terms

terms derived from wax (verb) ("grow or become")

outwax over-wax, overwax thorough-wax, thoroughwax, thorow-wax through-waxen unwax wax and wane

wax forth wax in age wax in eld wax lyrical wax poetic wax to man's estate wax wode

Related terms

terms related to wax (verb) ("grow, become")

forthwax forwax

packwax, paxwax, paxwaxy taxwax woadwaxen, woad-waxen, wood-wax, wood-waxen, woodwax, woodwaxen

Translations

to assume specified characteristic

Finnish: tulla (fi), muuttua (fi) French: devenir (fr) German: werden (de)

Italian: diventare (it), divenire (it) Portuguese: tornar-se (pt)

literary: grow

Danish: vokse (da) c. Finnish: kasvaa (fi) French: croître (fr) German: wachsen (de), zunehmen (de) Greek: αυξάνομαι (el) (afxánomai), γεμίζω (el) (gemízo)

Italian: crescere (it) Norwegian: vokse (no) n. Spanish: crecer (es) Swedish: växa (sv) n.

of the moon: appear larger each night

Chinese: Mandarin: (漸)盈 (zh) ((jiàn)yíng) Finnish: kasvaa (fi) French: croître (fr)

German: zunehmen (de) Greek: (third person) γεμίζει (el) (gemízei) Italian: crescere (it)

Noun

wax (uncountable)

1. (rare) The process of growing.

Derived terms

• wax-kernel
• waxless

Translations

process of growing

Dutch: wassen (nl), aanwassen (nl)

Finnish: kasvu (fi)

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain; probably from phrases like ‘to wax angry’, wax wode, and similar (see Etymology 2, above).

Noun

wax (plural waxes)

1. (dated, colloquial) An outburst of anger.
   • 1970, John Glassco, Memoirs of Montparnasse, New York 2007, p. 161:

     ‘That's him to a T,’ she would murmur; or, ‘Just wait till he reads this’; or, ‘Ah, won't that put him in a wax!’

Derived terms

• waxy

See also

• waxen-kernel
• waxloke