Library / English Dictionary

WAX

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various substances of either mineral origin or plant or animal origin; they are solid at normal temperatures and insoluble in water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("wax" is a kind of...):

lipid; lipide; lipoid (an oily organic compound insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents; essential structural component of living cells (along with proteins and carbohydrates))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wax"):

lac wax; shellac wax (a hard wax separated from shellac by its insolubility in alcohol)

vegetable wax (a waxy substance obtained from plants (especially from the trunks of certain palms))

spermaceti (a white waxy substance from oil of the sperm whale)

paraffin; paraffin wax (from crude petroleum; used for candles and for preservative or waterproof coatings)

cerumen; earwax (a soft yellow wax secreted by glands in the ear canal)

beeswax (a yellow to brown wax secreted by honeybees to build honeycombs)

ski wax (wax used on the bottom of skis)

paraffin scale; scale wax (partly refined paraffin wax)

pisang wax (a wax obtained from the leaves of a plantain)

montan wax (a hard wax obtained from lignite)

Japan tallow; Japan wax (a yellow wax obtained from sumac berries; used in polishes)

fig wax; gondang wax (a hard cream-colored wax obtained from a Javanese fig tree)

floor wax (a preparation containing wax and used to polish and preserve the finish of floors)

ceresin (a white wax extracted from ozokerite)

candelilla wax (a hard brown wax that occurs as a coating on candelilla shrubs)

carnauba; carnauba wax (hard yellowish to brownish wax from leaves of the carnauba palm used especially in floor waxes and polishes)

bayberry tallow; bayberry wax (a fragrant green wax obtained from the wax myrtle and used in making candles)

Derivation:

wax (cover with wax)

waxy (made of or covered with wax)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Go up or advance

Example:

Sales were climbing after prices were lowered

Synonyms:

climb; mount; rise; wax

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "wax" is one way to...):

increase (become bigger or greater in amount)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wax"):

jump (increase suddenly and significantly)

advance; gain (rise in rate or price)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Antonym:

wane (become smaller)

Derivation:

waxing (a gradual increase in magnitude or extent)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Increase in phase

Example:

the moon is waxing

Synonyms:

full; wax

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "wax" is one way to...):

increase (become bigger or greater in amount)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The moon will soon wax

Antonym:

wane (decrease in phase)

Derivation:

waxing (a gradual increase in magnitude or extent)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cover with wax

Example:

wax the car

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "wax" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wax"):

beeswax (cover with beeswax)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

wax (any of various substances of either mineral origin or plant or animal origin; they are solid at normal temperatures and insoluble in water)

waxing (the application of wax to a surface)

Credits

 Context examples: 

He stood up and opened a large drawer, in which were arranged in order a number of hollow cylinders of metal covered with dark wax, and said:—You are quite right.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Otherwise, the moon's shape would tend to even itself out over time, like warm candle wax.

(Ocean on Saturn moon could be as salty as the Dead Sea, NASA)

In other words, the ‘brrr-hm’ call more than tripled the chances of a successful interaction, yielding honey for the humans and wax for the bird, says Spottiswoode.

(How humans and wild Honeyguide birds call each other to help, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

And as they waxed maudlin he studied them, watching the beast rise and master them and thanking God that he was no longer as they.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was brought about by a conversation in the Eldorado Saloon, in which men waxed boastful of their favorite dogs.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A soft yellow wax secreted by glands in the ear canal.

(Cerumen, NCI Thesaurus)

She had seen David Copperfield out of the world, who was always running after wax dolls from his cradle.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It has been folded over three times and sealed with purple wax, put on hurriedly and pressed down with some flat oval object.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They comprise the fats, fatty oils, essential oils, waxes, sterols, phospholipids, glycolipids, sulfolipids, aminolipids, chromolipids (lipochromes), and fatty acids.

(Lipid, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

It was a wax vesta half burned, which was so coated with mud that it looked at first like a little chip of wood.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)