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

Hwei went to the shrine and brought forth a joss stick.

From The Mandarin's Fan by Hume, Fergus

Got some signal, you bet!" said the driver; "some yeller paper or piece o' joss stick in the road.

From From Sand Hill to Pine by Harte, Bret

So Harry stood waiting while the joss stick throwing went merrily on.

From The Bradys After a Chinese Princess The Yellow Fiends of 'Frisco by Doughty, Francis Worcester

"Evidently he is not acquainted with the peculiar smell of a joss stick."

From Number Seventeen by Tracy, Louis