Both Uses of
wax
in
Washington Black
Uses with a meaning too common or too rare to warrant foucs:
- I exhaled at the sight of his strained green eyes, the red skin beneath them raised like wax seals.†
p. 115.6
- He held the bird by its legs, and in the darkness its feathers appeared very white, like wax.†
p. 360.6 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(wax as in: the moon is waxing) a gradual increase (in size or strength or power or number) -- especially the part of the moon that is visible
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too common or too rare to warrant focus:
More commonly, wax is used to refer to a soft substance that melts when warmed and is seen in candles, crayons, beehives, polishes, and even the human ear. The word can also be used as a verb to refer to rubbing a coat of wax onto something such as a car or floor or furniture to protect it from water and/or improve appearance. Wax put on a surfboard also provides less slippery footing than the fiberglass board.
Wax can also be used as a verb to refer to the process of removing hair from the body by applying warm wax to the area being treated and pulling it off after it has cooled around the hair, so that the hair is pulled out from the root.
Less commonly, wax can refer to a stated manner of speech or writing; e.g., "She waxed eloquent," means that she talked in an eloquent manner. "She waxed on," means that talked more or for a longer time.