Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A child's doll of which the head and bust are made of beeswax combined with other ingredients to give it hardness.
  • noun plural The common fumitory, Fumaria officinalis: so called from the texture and color of its white or flesh-colored flowers.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • But no, it had not been Arlova, but Bogrov, who had been dragged past like a wax-doll; Comrade Bogrov, faithful unto the grave; and he had called out his name; that was not dreamed.

    Autumn Thomas Plastino Martin 2010

  • Has the beloved reader, in his experience of society, never heard similar remarks by good-natured female friends; who always wonder what you CAN see in Miss Smith that is so fascinating; or what COULD induce Major Jones to propose for that silly insignificant simpering Miss Thompson, who has nothing but her wax-doll face to recommend her?

    Vanity Fair 2006

  • There, just a few yards away, were some soldiers of the People's Liberation Army on parade, wearing the strange wax-doll look they tended to have, looking not quite human in their green wool uniforms, almost as though they used makeup, Chet thought, wanting to look more closely at their faces to see if maybe they really did.

    The Bear and the Dragon Clancy, Tom, 1947- 2000

  • She had a statue of him in ivory, which went by clockwork, and was daily seated at her table; and another wax-doll imitation, whose feet she caused to be blistered and anointed by physicians, as the poet's gouty extremities had been.

    English Literature, Considered as an Interpreter of English History Designed as a Manual of Instruction Henry Coppee

  • A lady had given her sister Julia a pretty wax-doll, and she had taken great pleasure in dressing it: almost all her leisure was occupied in making its cloaths, and when they were completed she was quite delighted.

    A Week of Instruction and Amusement, or, Mrs. Harley's birthday present to her daughter : interspersed with short stories, outlines of sacred and prophane history, geography &c. Unknown

  • But no, it had not been Arlova, but Bogrov, who had been dragged past like a wax-doll; Comrade Bogrov, faithful unto the grave; and he had called out his name; that was not dreamed.

    Darkness At Noon Koestler, Arthur, 1905- 1940

  • Has the beloved reader, in his experience of society, never heard similar remarks by good-natured female friends; who always wonder what you can see in Miss Smith that is so fascinating; or what could induce Major Jones to propose for that silly insignificant simpering Miss Thompson, who has nothing but her wax-doll face to recommend her?

    XII. Quite a Sentimental Chapter 1917

  • The Christmas holidays are celebrated still by carol singing from house to house, and by the presentation of the old-time "mystery" by strolling bands of actors, with a wax-doll to represent the Sacred Child.

    The Great White Tribe in Filipinia 1914

  • She was rather pretty, in a fussy, curling-tongs, wax-doll sort of way; but she never could let her appearance alone, or allow people to forget it.

    The Rosary 1909

  • Without any reason for forming such a mental picture of her prospective room-mate, Mary had imagined her to be a blue-eyed, golden-haired little creature, with a sort of wax-doll prettiness: a girl made to be petted and considered and shielded like a delicate flower.

    The Little Colonel's Chum: Mary Ware 1897

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