Definition of wax

• v. i. - To increase in size; to grow bigger; to become larger or fuller; -- opposed to wane.
• v. i. - 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. - 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.
• n. - Hence, any substance resembling beeswax in consistency or appearance.
• n. - Cerumen, or earwax.
• n. - A waxlike composition used for uniting surfaces, for excluding air, and for other purposes; as, sealing wax, grafting wax, etching wax, etc.
• n. - A waxlike composition used by shoemakers for rubbing their thread.
• n. - A substance similar to beeswax, secreted by several species of scale insects, as the Chinese wax. See Wax insect, below.
• n. - A waxlike product secreted by certain plants. See Vegetable wax, under Vegetable.
• n. - A substance, somewhat resembling wax, found in connection with certain deposits of rock salt and coal; -- called also mineral wax, and ozocerite.
• n. - Thick sirup made by boiling down the sap of the sugar maple, and then cooling.
• v. t. - To smear or rub with wax; to treat with wax; as, to wax a thread or a table.