waxworks
Americannoun
-
waxworks
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of waxworks
First recorded in 1690–1700; wax 1 + work ( def. ) + -s 3 ( def. )
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.
At Barnum’s American Museum in New York City, visitors could see America’s first aquarium, a menagerie of exotic animals, performances by magicians and ventriloquists, and waxworks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
When you walk through a crowd of strangers it’s next door to impossible not to imagine that they’re all waxworks, but probably they’re thinking just the same about you.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2025
That in turn inspired a Halloween movie Night of the Daniels - in which the waxworks of Daniel in the museum come to life and terrorise the town.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2023
But what no one seems to be claiming is that all this appeal and grace will breed new thoughts in architecture, the way Sugimoto’s theaters and waxworks revealed new options for photography.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2021
“From the crazy-scary waxworks, that’s what,” Paolo said.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
