waxworks

[waks-wurks]

noun, plural wax·works. (usually used with a singular verb)

an exhibition of or a museum for displaying wax figures, ornaments, etc.

Origin of waxworks

1690–1700; wax¹ + works

waxwork

[waks-wurk]

noun

a figure, ornament, or other object made of wax, or especially the life-size effigy of a person.

the bittersweet, Celastrus scandens.

Origin of waxwork

First recorded in 1690–1700; wax¹ + work

Related formswax·work·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for waxworks

Historical Examples of waxworks

The effigy is of painted wood and is amazingly lifelike, though smacking decidedly of the figures in a waxworks exhibition.
The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine
Francis Miltoun
In another day most of them would have been candidates for a waxworks or the formaldehyde of a specimen bottle.
Accidental Flight
Floyd L. Wallace
In the autumn of last year I was taken to see some waxworks.
The Legacy of Cain
Wilkie Collins
Easton suggested that a special saloon carriage might be engaged, and they could go and visit Madame Tussaud's Waxworks.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
Robert Tressell
So Cooper Union provided a museum of waxworks and many strange, natural-history specimens.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 11 (of 14)
Elbert Hubbard

British Dictionary definitions for waxworks

waxwork

noun

an object reproduced in wax, esp as an ornament

a life-size lifelike figure, esp of a famous person, reproduced in wax

(plural; functioning as singular or plural) a museum or exhibition of wax figures or objects

Derived Formswaxworker, noun

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