Also called beeswax. a solid, yellowish, nonglycerine substance allied to fats and oils, secreted by bees, plastic when warm and melting at about 145?F, variously employed in making candles, models, casts, ointments, etc., and used by bees in constructing their honeycomb.

any of various similar substances, as spermaceti or the secretions of certain insects and plants. Compare vegetable wax , wax insect .

any of a group of substances composed of hydrocarbons, alcohols, fatty acids, and esters that are solid at ordinary temperatures.

cerumen; earwax.

a resinous substance used by shoemakers for rubbing thread.

sealing wax.

a person or object suggesting wax, as in manageability or malleability

I am helpless wax in your hands.

to rub, smear, stiffen, polish, etc., with wax

to wax the floor.

to fill the crevices of (ornamental marble) with colored material.

Informal . to make a phonograph recording of.

Slang . to defeat decisively; drub

We waxed the competition.

pertaining to, made of, or resembling wax

a wax candle; a wax doll.

whole ball of wax

Slang .

the entire or overall plan, concept, action, result, or the like

The first ten minutes of the meeting will determine the whole ball of wax.

everything of a similar or related nature

They sold us skis, boots, bindings, polesthe whole ball of wax.

verb

shrink

verb

augment , become , build , come , develop , dilate , enlarge , expand , fill out , get bigger , get to , grow , grow full , heighten , increase , magnify , mount , multiply , rise , run , swell , turn , upsurgenotes:wane means to gradually decrease in strength or size , while wax means to increase in size or strength , aggrandize , amplify , boost , build up , burgeon , escalate , extend , proliferate , run up , snowball , soar , upsurge , get , become larger , cere , cerumen , coating , grease , oil , paraffin , polish , simonize