Meaning & use
wax
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Meanings
verbintransitiveliterary
To grow gradually larger, stronger or more noticeable, as the visible part of the moon does each night after a new moon.
Grammar: No object: the moon waxes; used mostly in this sense with moon and in literary writing.
Patterns
- wax and wane
The moon waxes for two weeks before it is full.
Public interest in the scandal waxed and waned over the summer.
His fortune waxed as the shipping business grew.
verblinkingformalhumorous
To speak or write in a particular way, especially with enthusiasm, in the phrase wax lyrical.
Grammar: Followed by an adjective in a fixed phrase: wax lyrical, wax poetic.
Patterns
- wax lyrical about something
- wax nostalgic
My uncle waxes lyrical about the food he ate in Italy.
She waxed nostalgic about her school days.
Critics waxed enthusiastic over the debut novel.
verbtransitive
To cover or polish something with wax, or to remove body hair using hot wax.
Grammar: Takes an object: wax the floor, wax your legs.
Patterns
- wax something
- get something waxed
He waxed the surfboard before heading to the beach.
She had her legs waxed before the holiday.
The shop waxes its floors every Sunday night.
noununcountable
A soft, solid substance that melts easily and is used for candles, polish and sealing, produced by bees or made from petroleum and plants.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: a bar of wax; the plural waxes is for different types.
Patterns
- a block of wax
- melt wax
Hot wax dripped from the candle onto the table.
He rubbed wax along the bottom of his skis.
Bees build their honeycombs from wax.
Word forms
| third person singular | waxes |
|---|---|
| past tense | waxed |
| past participle | waxed |
| -ing form | waxing |
Common combinations
- wax and wane
- Her enthusiasm for the project would wax and wane.
- wax lyrical
- He waxed lyrical about the sunrise.
- wax poetic
- Fans waxed poetic about the singer's new album.
- a waxing moon
- A waxing moon rose above the hills.
- melted wax
- Melted wax dripped down the sides of the candle.
- wax the car
- They spent the morning waxing the car.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grow
- Grow is general and works for anything that gets bigger, while wax is mostly used for the moon or in a literary way.
- increase
- Increase is a neutral word for amounts and numbers, but wax is poetic and suggests a natural rising rhythm.
- swell
- Swell suggests expanding in size, whereas wax suggests growing in brightness or strength over time.
- polish
- Polish makes a surface shiny by rubbing, but wax means polishing with a wax product specifically.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wax or wane?
wax vs wane
Wane means to grow smaller or weaker, so it is the opposite of wax.
Practice
Over the course of the week, the moon will ______ until it is full.
Choose one answer.
Wax means to grow larger, which is what the visible part of the moon does before it is full. Wane means the opposite, and wake and weigh do not describe the moon.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wax”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.