Chinese wax

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noun

a white to yellowish-white, gelatinous, water-insoluble substance obtained from the wax secreted by certain insects, especially a Chinese scale (Ericerus pela): used chiefly in the manufacture of polishes, sizes, and candles.

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Also called Chinese tree wax, insect wax.

Words nearby Chinese wax

Chinese vermilion, Chinese Wall, Chinese water deer, Chinese watermelon, Chinese water torture, Chinese wax, Chinese whispers, Chinese white, Chinese windlass, Chinese wisteria, Chinese wood oil

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Chinese wax in a sentence

The family was taking some private moments for a closing of the coffin in keeping with Chinese ritual.
Funeral Protest Is Too Much for NYPD Union Boss|Michael Daly|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on parchment or wax paper.
Make ‘The Chew’s’ Carla Hall’s Sticky Toffee Pudding|Carla Hall|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Monitoring Chinese social-media platforms has paid off for the Chinese government.
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think|Brendon Hong|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
HONG KONG—Last year, I met a Chinese graduate student on a tour of the northeastern United States before his first day at Harvard.
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think|Brendon Hong|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Alastair Sim had jowls like melting candle wax, a snarl like a cornered cat and eyes cold with contempt.
How Dickens and Scrooge Saved Christmas|Clive Irving|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her eldest daughter married in America, and was well known as a modeller in wax in New York.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Undesirable inhabitants of the country are being sent away, especially the Japanese, who are more dangerous than the Chinese.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
At length only four or five flames remained, feebly wavering in their pools of melted wax.
The Boarded-Up House|Augusta Huiell Seaman
Two many-branched candelabra, holding wax lights, brilliantly illuminate the game.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Rich natives and Chinese lost large sums of money, the total of which cannot be ascertained.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman

British Dictionary definitions for Chinese wax

Chinese wax

Chinese treewax

/ (ˈtriːˌwæks) /

noun

a yellowish wax secreted by an oriental scale insect, Ceroplastes ceriferus, and used commercially

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012