noun
- a plastic, dull-yellow substance secreted by bees for building cells; beeswax: it is hard when cold and easily molded when warm, melts at c. 64.4°C (c. 148°F), cannot be dissolved in water, and is used for candles, modeling, etc.
- any plastic substance like this; specif.,
- paraffin
- a waxlike substance exuded by the ears; earwax; cerumen
- a waxy substance produced by scale insects
- any waxlike substance yielded by plants or animals
- a resinous substance used by shoemakers to rub on thread
- sealing wax
- any of a group of substances with a waxy appearance made up variously of esters, fatty acids, free alcohols, and solid hydrocarbons
Origin:
from the wax cylinders formerly used for recording sound
Informal a phonograph record: once common in , to make a phonograph record of
Origin:
ME < OE weax, akin to Ger wachs < IE *wokso- < *weg-, to weave, prob. < base *(a)we-, to weave