wax

Word family

Related topics: Industry, Human

wax1 /wæks/ noun [uncountableU]

TIa solid substance made of fat or oil and used to make candles, polish etc 蜡

wax crayons

蜡笔

→ beeswax

2. HBHa natural sticky substance in your ears 耳垢

Examples from the Corpus

wax• Posed him in a uniform with a musket in front of a wax image of General Washington.• Christmas ribbon and wax fruit can be added for colour.• We put a layer of wax down on the floor.• The solid wax gives heavier protection.• We also lost many recordings: the wax masters could be broken.

Related topics: Nature, Astronomy, Hair & beauty

wax2 verb

1. [transitiveT]DHC to rub a layer of wax into a floor, surface etc to protect it or make it shine 给…打蜡

2 wax sentimental/eloquent/lyrical etc ALSAYto talk with extreme feeling, liking, or pleasure about something – used humorously 伤感/滔滔不绝/热情奔放地说〔幽默用法〕

wax sentimental/eloquent/lyrical etc about

Journalists wax lyrical about the band.

新闻记者盛赞那支乐队。

Examples from the Corpus

wax about• Will Ruby Wax lyrical about her smear test and will Oliver Reed flash his wedding tackle?• In the pub, beer glass in hand, he waxed lyrical about how he would spend his earnings.• You didn't even wax lyrical about the incredibly romantic island we could see from the cliff-top at the cape.• You're waxing lyrical about the M25 and the hopelessness of building more roads.• Marie Claire devoted last October's issue to the disease, and carried photos of topless celebrities waxing lyrical about their assets.• Before waxing lyrical about types of communication we need firstly to appreciate the uniqueness of the hotel environment.

3. [intransitiveI]DNHA when the moon waxes, it seems to get bigger each night 〔月亮〕渐圆，渐满 OPP wane

4 wax and wane ALCHANGE/BECOME DIFFERENTto increase and decrease over time 兴衰，荣枯

Interest in the show has waxed and waned.

人们对这个节目曾经颇有兴趣，现已热情不再。

Examples from the Corpus

wax and wane• Over the years, there have been fundamental shifts in policy and strategy as attitudes toward the rural poor wax and wane.• Controversy about essential hypertension has waxed and waned for a century, and what is orthodox today may change with time.• Historical Romances continued to appear throughout the century, waxing and waning in numbers and popularity as public taste dictated.• Is it present constantly, does the sensation wax and wane, or does it come in acute attacks?• Although the Alsops' fortunes waxed and waned through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, certain family characteristics remained distinct.

5. [transitiveT]DCB if you wax your legs, arms etc, you remove the hair from them using wax 用蜡去除〔腿、手臂等〕的毛

Examples from the Corpus

wax• Price-sensitivity is waxing and brand-loyalty waning.• Other than the dark, waxed limousine, the space was devoid of furniture.• Domestic Edam cheeses are waxed or have other tightly adhering coating that may be red or another color.• Silent Scream attempts to do the same for Larry Winters, a Glaswegian murderer who waxed poetic behind bars before topping himself.• He had not the stomach, literally, to wax serious about such things today.• Bricks should be sealed with a masonry stabiliser, while wood should be waxed, varnished or painted.

Origin wax1

Old English weax

wax2

1. (1300-1400) → WAX1

2. Old English weaxan “to grow”

wax1 nounwax2 verb

Chinese

Corpus