v. i. | 1. | |
| 1. | To increase in size; to grow bigger; to become larger or fuller; - opposed to wane. |
| 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. |
n. | 1. | |
| 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. |
| 2. | Hence, any substance resembling beeswax in consistency or appearance. |
| 3. | (Physiol.) Cerumen, or earwax. |
| 4. | A waxlike composition used for uniting surfaces, for excluding air, and for other purposes; as, sealing wax, grafting wax, etching wax, etc. |
| 5. | A waxlike composition used by shoemakers for rubbing their thread. |
| 6. | (Zool.) A substance similar to beeswax, secreted by several species of scale insects, as the Chinese wax. See Wax insect, below. |
| 7. | (Bot.) A waxlike product secreted by certain plants. See Vegetable wax, under Vegetable. |
| 8. | (Min.) A substance, somewhat resembling wax, found in connection with certain deposits of rock salt and coal; - called also mineral wax, and ozocerite. |
| 9. | Thick sirup made by boiling down the sap of the sugar maple, and then cooling. |
| 10. | any of numerous substances or mixtures composed predominantly of the longer-chain saturated hydrocarbons such as the paraffins, which are solid at room teperature, or their alcohol, carboxylic acid, or ester derivatives. |
v. t. | 1. | To smear or rub with wax; to treat with wax; as, to wax a thread or a table. |
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