Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The art of modeling in wax.
- n. A figure made of wax, especially a life-size wax effigy of a famous person.
- n. An exhibition of wax figures in a museum.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Work in wax; especially, figures or ornaments made of wax; in ordinary usage, figures, as of real persons, usually of life-size, and more or less of deceptive resemblance, the heads, hands, etc., being in wax, and the rest of the figure so set up and clothed as to increase the imitative effect.
- n. plural A place where a collection of such figures is exhibited.
- n. The climbing bitter-sweet, Celastrus scandens: so named on account of the waxy scarlet aril of the fruit. See Celastrus and skiff-tree. Also called Roxbury wax-work.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Work made of wax; especially, a figure or figures formed or partly of wax, in imitation of real beings.
- n. (Bot.) An American climbing shrub (Celastrus scandens). It bears a profusion of yellow berrylike pods, which open in the autumn, and display the scarlet coverings of the seeds.
WordNet 3.0
- n. twining shrub of North America having yellow capsules enclosing scarlet seeds
- n. an effigy (usually of a famous person) made of wax
Examples
“They will exist for posterity only in waxwork figures and in a few scant pages of history.”
“Slimmed down Shane a waxwork Warney SHANE Warne is again hitting the headlines, as the Aussie spin king sheds weight and uses face creams to achieve a glistening new look that has seen him described as a waxwork.”
“The waxwork has been a latest addition in the recently breaking taboos about Hitler in Germany after more than sixty years of the holocaust.”
“I also recall a waxwork representation of the Birth in the Manger.”
“Every one knows the climbing-bittersweet, or "waxwork" (_Celastrus scandens_), with its bright berries hanging in clusters in the autumn copses, each yellow berry having now burst open in thin sections and exposed the scarlet-coated seeds.”
“After the speech was ended, Mary carried me within; the captain’s hands were folded on his bosom, his face and head were composed; he looked as if he might speak at any moment; I have never seen this kind of waxwork so express or more venerable; and when I went away, I was conscious of a certain envy for the man who was out of the battle.”
“Artists at the renowned wax archive are in the final stages of a waxwork crafted in the likeness of the English heartthrob.”
“The figurines are a part of a tableau set in a wood-framed box given to Martha Washington in 1783 by its creator, Samuel Fraunces, a friend of the Washington family and a man obsessed with waxwork.”
“Pictured, Ms. Kapoor, left, posed with her waxwork at Madame Tussauds in England, Oct. 27.”
“Madame Tussauds in London unveiled a waxwork of Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday, to coincide with the start of upcoming World Cup.”
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vanishedone WeirdNet brings a new meaning to this figurative usage: 'The jovial, cigar-chomping, bird-watching, jazz-loving, beer-drinking Ken Clarke isn't a slick political waxwork. He's his own bloke.' Jan 19, 2009