† unwaxv.1
Obsolete.
intransitive. To grow or become less; to decrease. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)]
littleOE
setc1000
wanzec1175
lessc1225
allayc1275
wane1297
slaken1303
disincreasec1374
slakec1380
decrease1382
debatea1400
unwaxa1400
wastea1400
adminishc1400
lessenc1400
imminish14..
aslakec1405
minish?a1425
assuagec1430
shrinkc1449
to let down1486
decay1489
diminish1520
fall1523
rebate1540
batea1542
to come down1548
abate1560
stoop1572
pine1580
slack1580
scanten1585
shrivel1588
decrew1596
remit1629
contract1648
subside1680
lower1697
relax1701
drop1730
to take off1776
to run down1792
reduce1798
recede1810
to run off1816
to go down1823
attenuatea1834
ease1876
downscale1945
a1400 Coer de L. 2844 Thus began our folk unwexe, And dyede for hungyr and for woo.
c1400 Pepysian Gosp. Harmony (1922) 14 For it bihoued nedes þat Jesus wex & þat he vnwex.
14.. in W. Maskell Monumenta Ritualia Ecclesiae Anglicanae (1847) III. 353 Of a man it is seid, the more he wexith the more he unwexith.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
unwaxv.2
transitive. To deprive of wax; to remove the wax from.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [verb (transitive)] > deprive of wax
unwax1817
1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. 148 On the seventh day the part covering the head and trunk of the young female [bee], if I may so speak, is almost entirely unwaxed.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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