wavy 
wavy-, ". See irarey. 
wavy-barred (wa'vi-Mrd), a. Crossed with 
waviug lines; undulated: as, the tcavy-baircd 
sable, a British moth. See sdhle, »., 7. 
waw^t, n. [< ME. wawey wa^e, waghCj waugh^ a 
wave, < AS. wseg = OS. wag = OFries. ivegj wei 
= MB. waeghe = MLG. tvage = OHG. wag (> F. 
vague), MHG. wdc, G. woge = <jtoth. wega, a wave; 
< AS. icegati, etc., bear, carry, move : see weigh, 
wag^, and ef. tcaw-.'] A wave. 
For, whiles they fly that Gulfes devouring jawes, 
They on this rock are rent, and sunck in helples wawes. 
Spenser, F. Q., 11. xii. 4. 
waw'-^t, V. t. [< ME. wawen, wagieu, < AS. wa- 
gian, stir, move, = OHG. wagen, move, = Goth. 
wagjaiij move; a secondary fonn of AS. icegan, 
etc., bear, carry : see weigh, and cf, waw'^.'] To 
stir; move; wave. 
What wenten ye out in to desert for to se? ii reed 
wavHd with the wynd? WycUf, Luke vji. 24. 
waw^t, 'I. L^ ^^E- ^^^'fiif^c, wagh, tva^, wah, wowe, 
woughy woi(hj < AS. icag, wah = OFries. wach = 
MD. weeghe = leel. veggr = ^w. viigg = Dan. rseg^ 
a wall.] A wall. Piers Plowman (B), iii. 61. 
waw* (wa), r. i. [< ME. waweii ; imitative; 
ef. waul, wawL] To cry as a cat; waul. 
wawah (wa'wa), n. Same as wow-wow. Encye. 
lint., IV. 57. " 
wawef, interj. and n. A Middle English form 
of woe. 
wawlj *". i. See waul. 
wawliet, «. An obsolete fonn of waly^. 
wawprOOS (wa'pros), «. [Amer. Ind.] The 
American varying hare, I^pus amerieanus. 
waw-waw (wa'wa), w. [W, Ind.] See Hajania. 
Wawyt (wa'i), a. [< hv/h-I + -y^.^ Abounding 
in waves; wavy. 
I saw come over the waunj flood. 
The iHle of Ladies, 1. 697. 
wai^ (waks), i*. i. [< ME. waxe)t, wexen (pret. 
weXy weeXy wax, wax, weax, wasx,]}\. wexen, woxen, 
pp. waxeuy wexen, woxen), < AS. weaxan (pret. 
wedXypi>.geweaxen) = OH.wah.sa»=0¥T\eH.waxa 
= X>. wassen = OHG. wahsun, MHG. wahsen^ G. 
wacksen = leel. vaxa = Sw. va'xa = Dan. voxe = 
Goth, wahsjan (pret. icohs, pp. wahsans), grow, 
increase, wax; = Gv. av^dveiv, wax, Skt.-\/vak:sh, 
wax, grow; appar. an extension of the root seen 
in L. augere, increase, AS. edcan, increase: see 
el'e, and augment, auction, etc. Hence ult. 
wax^y n., waist,'] 1, To grow; increase in size; 
become larger or greater : as, the moon waxes 
and wanes. 
So is pryde tcaxen 
In religionn und inalletherewmeamongerictteandporo, 
That preyeres haue no ix>wer the pestilence to lette. 
Piers Ploicinan (B), x. T.'i. 
Hotlili the child icax, and waa coumfortid, ful of wysdoni ; 
and the ^ace of God was in hiui. Wydi/, Luke ii. 40. 
The chllde he kepte and norisshed till it was fcire well 
icaxen, and that he royght ride after to court. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 238. 
A wexing moon, thot soon would wane. 
UrydeHy Pal. and Arc, iii. 649. 
Thou »halt irax&u*\ he shall dwindle. 
Tennynuny Boadicea. 
2. To pass from one state to another; become ; 
grow: as, to wax strong; to wax old. 
Ai»d every man that outiht hath in his cofre, 
Lat him appere and wexe a philnsofre. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Canons Yenman's Tale, 1. 284. 
Now charity is rcaxen cold, none helpeth the scholar nor 
yet the poor. Latimer, SeinKjn of the Plough. 
First he wox pale, ami then wax red. 
Scott, Thomas the Rhymer, iii. 
Tiie commander of Fort Casindr, when he found his nmr- 
tial spirit waxing too hot within Idni, would sally f<»rth 
into the flelila and lay about him most lustily with Ids 
jiahre. Irciwj, Knickerbocker, p. 315. 
Waxing kernels, enlart'eil lymph-nodes sometimes found 
in the ktoIu in children : so cjilled because supiwsed to be 
associated with growth. 
wax^ (waks), n. [< ME. wax, wexe (= MHG. 
tra/f;!*, increment, increase; also in comp., MD. 
wasdom = G. wachsthum, growth); from the 
verb.] If. Growth; increase; prosi)erity. 
Ful nobley wele the ahnes yef and do; 
Aboute hym gret wexe, fair store, and gret lii:ht. 
Rom. of Partenaij(E. E. T. S.), !. 653. 
2. A wood. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
wax^ (waks), n. [< ME. wax, wrx, < AS. weax 
= OS. icahs = OB>ies. wax = D. was = OHG. 
MHG. wahSy G. warhs = leel. vax = Sw. rax = 
Dan. voxy wax; cf. OBiilg. vosku = Bohem. rosi: 
= Pol. wosk = Russ. vosktl = Hung. rias::k = 
Lith. was-kasy wax (perhaps < Tent.). Some 
compare L. visrnm, mistletoe, hir^i-liine: see 
rwcM/M.] 1. A thick, sticky suhstanifc se- 
creted by liees, and used to build their cells; 
the matenal of honeycomb; beeswax. Tn its 
6853 
natural state it is of a dull-yellow color, and smells of 
honey. Its consistency varies with the temperature ; it 
is ordinarily a pliable solid, readily melted. When puri- 
fied and bleached, it becomes translucent white, is less 
tenacious, without taste or smell, and of a specitic gravity 
a little less than that of water. It softens at 80° F., be- 
coming extremely plastic, and retaining any form in wliich 
it may be molded, like clay or putty, and melts at 158° F. 
In chemical composition, wax consists of variable propor- 
tions of three substances, called myrocin, cerolein, and 
cerotic acid. Wax is used for many purposes, both in it« 
natural state and variously prepai'ed. As bleached, and 
also then variously tinted, it is made into wax candles, 
which give a peculiarly soft light. In pharmacy it enters 
into the composition of various plasters, ointments, and 
cerates, as a vehicle for the active ingredients, and to con- 
fer upon the preparation a desired consistency. It has 
varied uses in the plastic arts, especially in the making of 
anatomical models, artificial flowers and fruits, casts and 
impressions of various kinds, etc. 
This pardoner hadde beer as yelow as wez. 
Cha%icer, Geu. Pro!, to C. T., 1. 675. 
I'll work her as I go ; I know she 's wax. 
Beau, and Fl., Coxcomb, ii. 2. 
Tlie Effigies of his late Majesty King William III. of 
Glorious Memory is curiously done in Wax to the Life, 
Richly Drest in Coronation Kol»es. 
Quoted in Askton's Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, 
[L 283. 
2. One of various substances and products re- 
sembling beeswax in appearance, consistency, 
plasticity, and the like, or used for like purposes, 
(a) The substance worked up from the pollen of flowers 
by the hind legs of bees, and used to feed their larva; ; 
bee-bread, formerly supposed to be beeswax. (6) The 
substance secreted by various coccids or wax-scales, espe- 
cially such as has commercial value. (See ivax-iiisecty 1.) 
(c) The product of some other homopterous insects. (See 
wax-insect, 2.) This is more or less stringy and flocculent, 
and approaches in character the froth or spume of the 
spittle-insects, but in some cases is usable like beeswax. 
((/) The secretion of the sebaceous glands of the outer 
ear; cerumen ; ear-wax. (e) A vegetable product which 
may be regai'ded as a concrete fixed oil, the principal vari- 
eties l>eing Chinese wax, cow-tree wax, carnauba wax, and 
Japan wax. It may be obtained from the pollen of many 
flowers, and it forms a part of the green fecula of many 
plants, particularly of the cabbage. It appears as a var- 
nish upon the fruit or the upper surface of the leaves of 
many trees, as the wax-palm and wax-myrtle. Also calle<l 
vegetable ivax. See cut under Afyrica. See also wax-tree, 
and compounds below. (/) A mineral product, one of 
certain fossil hydrocarlwna which occur in small quan- 
tities generally in the Carboniferous formation : called 
more fully mineral icax. The most familiarly known 
variety is ozocerite, (g) A substance used for sealing. 
See sealing-wax. 
Qvomodo. He will never trust his land in 2vax and 
parchment, as many gentlemen have done before him. 
Ea«y. A by-blow for me. 
Middleton, Michaelmas Term, iv. 1. 
A letter! hum I a suspicious circumstance, to be sure! 
What, an<l the seal a true-lover's knot now, ha? or an 
heart transfixed with dai-ts ; or possibly the waz Iwre the 
industrious impression of a thimble. 
Colman, Jealous Wife, i. 
(A) A thick resinous Bubatance, consisting of pitch, resin, 
and tallow, used by shoemakers for nibbing their tliread. 
3. A thick syrup produced by boiling down the 
sap of the sugar-maple tree, cooling on ice, etc. 
[Local, U. S.] — 4. Dung of cattle. [Westeni 
U. S.] — 5. In coal-miniagy puddled clay, used 
for dams and stoppings.— Brazil wax. Same as 
camanba wax.—'ButiQr of wax. Sec bntteri.^CSJr- 
nauba wax, a secretion of the youn^' leaves of the car- 
nauba palm, Copernieia cerifera, of Brazil, which is used 
in making candles and is exported in large quantities. — 
Chinese or China wax, a hard white wax, the product 
of a scale-insect See j)ela and wax-insect, 1 (a).— Ear- 
wax See def. 2 (rf) and ccrM»(ic?i.— Grafting-wax, a 
mixture made of resin, beeswax, and linseed-oil, for coat- 
ing the incisions made in a tree in grafting. — Ibota wax, 
a protluct in Japan of the shrub Ligustruni Ibota. — Ja,V3Lli 
wax, a wax obtained in Japan from the drupes of tlie wax- 
tree Bhus succedanca, by crushing, steaming, and press- 
ing. It is used chiefly for candles, and largely exported. 
The fruit of the lacquer-tree, Pkus vemicifera, yields a 
still l)etter wax.— Mineral wax. See def. 2 (/).— Nose 
Of wax. See nosei.— Paraffin wax, a white subKtancc 
resembling wax, obtained chiefly from the distillation of 
petroleum, but also produced in the distillation of coal, 
wood, and other substances. It is a neutral, easily fusiblf 
substance, unaltered by acids or alkalis, and hence lias 
a wide range of uses in the arts.— Vegetable wax, any 
wax of vegetable origin. See def. 2 (c). The name once 
denoted specifically myrtle-wax.— Wax dam, a <lam of 
putidied clay.— Wax dolL See wax-duiL—'Wax im- 
pression, in dmtistry, a copy in wax of parts of the mouth, 
taken usually for the purpose of fitting the plate for arti- 
ficial teeth.— Wax opal, a variety of conmion oi)al hav- 
ing a resinous wax-like luster.— Wax wall, a dam of pud- 
dled clay. [Leicestershire coal-fleld, Eng. 1— White wax. 
(a) Blenched beeswax, {b) Chinese wax, or pehi. (See also 
bankin<j-wax, fjottVi-wax, myrtle-icax, ocuba-ivax, sealiny- 
ivax. ) 
wax^ (waks), V. [< ME. waxen, wexen; < wax^, 
«.] I. trans. To treat with wax; smear or rub 
with wax; make waxy: as, to »y/x a thread ; to 
wax the floor or a piece of furniture. 
Tlio tok I and wexede my label in maner of a peyro 
tables to resceyve distynctly the prikkes of my compas. 
Chancvr, Astrolabe, ii. §. 40. 
He held a long string in one band, which he drew 
through the other hand incessantly, as he spoke, just as a 
shoemaker performs tlie motion r)f waxing his thread. 
0. W. Ilolmex, 'I'he Atlantic, LXVI. Gfi:!. 
waxen 
Waxed end, in shoemaking, a thread the end of which 
has been stiffened by the use of shoemakers' wax. so as to 
pass easily through the holes made by the awl; also, a 
waxed thread terminating in a l)ristle, for the same pur- 
pose. Also reduced to W'aa:-eHrf.— Waxed paper. See 
paper. 
II. inirans. To plaster with clay. [Leices- 
tershire coal-field, Eng.] 
wax^ (waks), n. [Appar. < wax'^, v., taken in 
sense of *rub,' hence *beat, thrash.'] A rage; 
a passion. [Colloq.] 
She 's in a terrible wax, but .she '11 be all right by the 
time he comes back from his holidays. 
//. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, v. 
wax-berry (waks'ber''''i), n. The bayberry, My- 
riea cerifera, 
waxbill (waks'bil), n. One of numerous small 
Old World birds of the family Ploceidse and 
subfamily Spermestinse, whose bills have a cer- 
tain waxen appearance, due to the translueeucy 
of the horny covering, which may be white, 
pink, red, etc. The name appears to have attached 
more particularly to the members of the genus Eatrelda 
in a broad sense, but is of extensive and varied appli- 
cation. The Java sparrow is a good example. (See cut 
under sparrow.) The original waxbill, first so named by 
Edwards in 1751, the waxbill grosl)eak of Latham (1783)^ 
Loxia astrild of Linuffius, and now Estrelda astrilda, or 
Estrelda astrild, or Estrdda astrilda (for the name tlius 
wavers in spelling), is a South African bird, ranging as 
far as Matabeleland on the east and Damaraland on the 
west coast. It has also been introduced in various places. 
Waxbill {Estrelda astrild). 
and is a well-known cage-bird. It is scarcely over 4 inches 
long, the wing and tail each aliout \% inches; the bill is 
bright-red; the eyes and feet aie brown. The general 
aspect is that <tf a brown bird, but this ground-color is 
intricately varied with several other colors. The vent is 
black, and there is a crimson streak on each side of the 
head. The blue-breasted waxbill (A', ci/anogasti-a), the or- 
ange-cheeked (E. melpoda), the red-bellied {E. rubHven- 
tris\ the grenadier {U neginthxts granatinus), and various 
others are among the small exotic birds which form the 
dealer's stock of amadavats, senegals, blood-finches, straw- 
berry-finches, paddj'-bir<i8, and the like. 
wax-bush (waks'bush), H. Same as wax-weed. 
wax-chandler (waks^chand^ler), n. A maker 
or seller of wax candles. [Eng.] 
wax-cloth (waks'kloth), n. A popular name 
for floor-cloth. [Kng.] 
wax-cluster (waks'klus'^tcr),)?. A shrub, (UiuU 
theria hispidn, found in the mountains of Aus- 
tralia and Tasmania, it grows 2 or 3 feet high or 
more, and is conspieimus for its abundant and beautiful 
white waxy berry-like fruit. 
wax-doll (waks'dol'), n. 1. A chikVs doll of 
which the head and bust are made of beeswax 
combined with other ingredients to give it hard- 
ness. — 2. 2^1. The common fumitory, Fumaria 
offieinalis : so called from tlie texture and color 
of its white or flesh-colored flowers. Britten 
and TfoUaud. [Prov. Eng.] 
waxen^ (wak'sn), a. [< ME. waxen, < AS. 
weaxeuy made of wax, < weax, wax: see wax'^.l 
1 . Made of wax ; covered with wax : as, a waxen 
tablet. 
She is fair; and so is Julia that 1 love- 
That I did love, for now my love is thaw'd ; 
Which, like a waxen image 'gainst a fire. 
Bears no impression of the thing it was. 
Shale, T. G. of v., ii. 4. 201. 
I beheld through a pretty ory.stall glasse by the light of 
a waxen candle, Coryat, Crudities, I. 48. 
2. Resembling wax; soft as wax ; waxy. 
For men have marble, women waxen, minds. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1240. 
3. Easily effaced, as if written in wax. [Kare.] 
A waxen epitaph. Shak., Hen. V., i. 2. 233. 
4. In joo7. : (r/) Being or consisting of wax: as, 
the waxen cells of honeycomb, (b) Like wax; 
waxy. (1) Like wax in apparent texture or consistency. 
Compare waxbill. (2) Waxy in color; of a dull-yellowish 
color, like raw beeswax, (rf) Wiixcil ; liaving wax- 
