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sealing wax

American  

noun

  1. a resinous preparation, soft when heated, used for sealing letters, documents, etc.


sealing wax British  

noun

  1. a hard material made of shellac, turpentine, and pigment that softens when heated. It is used for sealing documents, parcels, letters, etc

"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

Etymology

Origin of sealing wax

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

A one-pound jar of bottle sealing wax from BW Blended Waxes Inc. of Oshkosh, Wis. — enough to seal 25 to 30 bottles — is available for less than $20 on Amazon.

From Washington Post Sep. 8, 2022

There was a bit of sealing wax with a fingerprint, a brush entangled with strands of hair, and a set of lieutenants’ epaulets.

From New York Times Feb. 20, 2020

And you can take that anywhere you like — Christmas plus pizza, Christmas plus Bigfoot, Christmas plus Hanukkah, clouds, pigs, sealing wax, whatever.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 22, 2018

The man who revolutionized our understanding of the universe using little more than string and sealing wax would have watched with pride and hope.

From Scientific American Aug. 30, 2013

It was a brass box, its vacuum maintained by the usual liberal applications of sealing wax.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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