Japan wax

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noun

a pale-yellow, waxy, water-insoluble solid obtained from the fruit of certain sumacs, especially Rhus succedanea, native to Japan and China: used chiefly in the manufacture of candles, furniture polishes, and floor waxes.

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Also called Japan tallow, sumac wax.

Origin of Japan wax

First recorded in 1855–60

Words nearby Japan wax

Japanese yew, Japanesque, Japanglish, Japanism, Japanize, Japan wax, jape, Japheth, Japhetic, Japlish, Japn.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Japan wax in a sentence

In Japan, one woman said she liked the experience of marrying herself as an exercise in pampering.
Why Singles Should Say ‘I Don’t’ to The Self-Marriage Movement|Tim Teeman|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It happened on Glee and in Sex and The City, and now in Japan women can marry themselves.
Why Singles Should Say ‘I Don’t’ to The Self-Marriage Movement|Tim Teeman|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When the U.S. went to war with Japan, American movies disappeared.
Propaganda, Protest, and Poisonous Vipers: The Cinema War in Korea|Rich Goldstein|December 30, 2014|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

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
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
I shipped for a voyage to Japan and China, and spent several more years trying to penetrate the forbidden fastnesses of Tibet.
The Boarded-Up House|Augusta Huiell Seaman
Fujiyama, the noted volcano of Japan, is twelve thousand three hundred and sixty-five feet high.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)

British Dictionary definitions for Japan wax

Japan wax

Japan tallow

noun

a yellow wax obtained from the berries of plants of the genus Rhus. It is used in making matches, soaps, candles, and polishes

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