wax palm

American  

noun

1. a tall, pinnate-leaved palm, Ceroxylon alpinum (orC. andicola ), of the Andes, whose stem and leaves yield a resinous wax.

2. any of several other palms that are the source of wax, as the carnauba.

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wax palm British  

noun

1. a tall Andean palm tree, Ceroxylon andicola, having pinnate leaves that yield a resinous wax used in making candles

2. another name for carnauba

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Etymology

Origin of wax palm

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

The soaring wax palm trees of the valley would later feature heavily onscreen.

From New York Times • Mar. 11, 2022

Not long into the film — as towering wax palm trees filled the screen — my eyes glazed with tears.

From New York Times • Dec. 15, 2021

And we hiked through Cocora Valley in the Zona Cafetera, where the wax palm trees stretched impossibly tall, through the mist toward the sky.

From New York Times • Dec. 15, 2021

They take honey, manufactured wax, palm and Castilian wine, civet-cats, large tibors in which to store their tea, glass, cloth, and other curiosities from Espana.

From History of the Philippine Islands by Robertson, James Alexander

Ceroxylon andicola.—The wax palm of New Grenada, first described by Humboldt and Bonpland, who found it on elevated mountains, extending as high as the lower limit of perpetual snow.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William