joss stick

American  

noun

1. a slender stick of a dried, fragrant paste, burned by the Chinese as incense before a joss.

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joss stick British  

noun

1. a stick of dried perfumed paste, giving off a fragrant odour when burnt as incense

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Etymology

Origin of joss stick

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

At one end of the living room of a Formosan cottage, incense from a burning joss stick rose fragrantly before an image of Buddha.

From Time Magazine Archive

"It is odd, too, that you and the detectives should have noticed the smell of a joss stick in the flat," went on Miss Beale.

From Number Seventeen by Tracy, Louis

A muttered "I understand—perfectly," showed this, and he did not strive to conceal the alarm which possessed him when Theydon spoke of the joss stick.

From Number Seventeen by Tracy, Louis

The aromatic odor of the burnt joss stick still clung to the suite of apartments, and Forbes noticed it at once.

From Number Seventeen by Tracy, Louis

Then he looked again, Olivia placed the still fizzling joss stick in the fender, and peered over his shoulder.

From The Mandarin's Fan by Hume, Fergus