wax, v.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

wax v.²

[SE wax, to grow in intensity + whack v.¹ (1)]

1. (US) to scold, to berate.

1834

Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (NY) Mar. 22 2/3: They had sorely waxed him for drinking.

2. (also wax off) to beat up, to thrash; thus waxing n., a beating.

[1843		R.S. Surtees Handley Cross (1854) 465: Pigg has given him to much of what he calls ‘cobbler’s-wax oil’ — thrashing with a strap].
1856		Abbeville Banner (SC) 19 June 1/5: Peg it into [...] that’s it, wax him, my lad; beat him!
1859		Wkly Varieties (Boston, MA) 3 Sept. 3/4: Deserving of the Lash [...] Sentence [...] wax him off to the tune of ten stripes.
1873		W.H. Thomes Bushrangers 42: Let them go. My father will wax ’em when he hears of their doings.
1895		Mirror of Life 26 Jan. 10/1: [W]e had been nearly poisoned by the drink sold and our ‘beaks’ had been ‘well waxed’ by Harry Ricks, the pugilistic waiter of the establishment.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 254: I can take a waxin, I don’t care!
1965		H. Rhodes Chosen Few (1966) 140: He waxes th’ heads of two other soul brothers so his night wouldn’t be a total waste.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 14: He tried to jump me, and I waxed him.
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 158: We Words (My Favorite Things) [...] Not pressed. Get waxed. Get served. Get smoked.
2023		F. Bill Back to the Dirt 23: ‘If Warden’s pissed off for us paying an unannounced visit, he’ll wax you’.

3. to defeat in competition.

1876		N.Y. Herald 16 Mar. n.p.: The trader at Fort Lincoln, fearing removal, Orville Grant’s clerk at Standing Rock advised him to tell Grant, ‘he can wax you’ [F&H].
1880		Mining News (NV) 24 Apr. 1/2: He [...] used to wax me at ‘shinny-up-your-own-alley’ [DA].
1892		Outing (N.Y.) Oct. 37/2: A great crowd of graduates from New York and Hartford and from everywhere were out at Hamilton Park to see Harvard ‘waxed’ [DA].
1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 100: Think of a large Man who wants to retain his Self-Respect going out on the Links and getting waxed good and hard by a Child.
1920		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘The Reformed Pub’ Sporting Times 17 July 1/3: ‘Got him waxed,’ sang out another.
1982		Eble Campus Sl. Fall 5: wax – to beat someone badly, defeat in a big fashion, to lose badly.
1993		Dr Dre ‘Keep Their Headz Ringin’ 🎵 Dre came to wax you so, just call me Mop N Glow.
2001		Eble Campus Sl. Fall 11: wax – defeat a person or team by a large margin.
2007–8		Mail and Guardian (S. Afr.) 21 Dec.–3 Jan. 21: You can have a brilliant shot and think: ‘Now I’ve waxed it.’.

4. to ply with drink.

1895

Mirror of Life 26 Jan. 10/1: Our ‘beaks’ had been ‘well waxed’ by Harry Hicks, the pugiilistic waiter.

5. to kill.

1966		Times Recorder (Zanesville, OH) 13 Mar. 10/5: Waxed means to get killed.
1977		(con. 1960s) D. Goines Black Gangster (1991) 247: Just because that stud got waxed.
1987		C. Hiaasen Double Whammy (1990) 97: It was your gun that waxed the guy.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 584: Those guys in Mississippi. They wax those civil rights humps and walk scot-free.
2008		T. Piccirilli Fever Kill 77: You couldn’t take things too seriously [...] not even while somebody was getting waxed in front of you.
2013		T. Dorsey Riptide Ultra-Glide 72: Under Coleman’s breath: ‘You’re the one waxing the dude’.
2021		T. Pluck Boy from County Hell 177: He had wanted to wax Desmarteaux when they were over Whiskey Bay [...] A jump from that high, the water would hit you like concrete.

6. to have sexual intercourse; thus waxing n., (having) sexual intercourse.

1997–2000		College Sl. Research Project (Cal. State Poly. Uni., Pomona) 🌐 Wax 1. (verb) To have sex.
2002		G. Pelecanos Hell to Pay 3: I was waxin’ her from behind.
2005		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper 4 37: In Tassie the waxing normally involves someone’s sister.

7. to fellate.

1991		Cooper & Wright New Jack City [film script] Them bitches, they do anything for this, man! I had my jimmy waxed every day last week. You understand?
1992		UGK ‘Something Good’ 🎵 She waxed my jimmy, and then the little street tramp / Did me.

In phrases

wax ass (v.) [ass n. (3)]

(US black) to have sexual intercourse.

1992–2003		P. Atoon Rap Dict. 🌐 wax 4) (v) To have sexual intercourse. ‘Wax that ass’ — Ice Cube.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 [Internet] Girl, bes’ stop wearin’ that see through shit or I’ma wax that ass!

waxed, buffed and simonized (adj.) [car valeting imagery] (US black)

describing something that is superlative, impressive.

1992–2003		P. Atoon Rap Dict. 🌐 wax [...] 3) (adj) Describing refinement as in ‘waxed, buffed and simonized’ from the Mister Magic radio show.
2002		Ottawa Citizen 27 Jun. 🌐 ‘Clever biblical hip-hop is a Fringe festival gem’ With Job: The HipHop Musical, you couldn’t axe for more: a clever and engaging script, energetic acting and all the fun of hip-hop rap, without the expletive booty and bitch-slapping. In other words, it’s waxed, buffed and simonized.

wax off (v.)

(UK black) to eat, to consume.

2020

G. Krauze What They Was 147: Plate of curry goat and rice and peas [...] I wax it off.

wax someone’s ass (v.) (also wax someone’s head, ...plow) [ass n. (2)/ SE head/tail n. (1)]

(US) to beat up, to thrash; ult. to kill.

1960		(con. 1940s) D. MacCuish Do Not Go Gentle (1962) 376: Gonna wax his ass [...] Gonna cut yer screwy pal six ways to Sunday.
1965		H. Rhodes Chosen Few (1966) 30: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an unhip world or to take arms against a sea of squares and by waxing their heads, end them.
1987		(con. 1968) Bunch & Cole Reckoning for Kings (1989) 203: You had yourself a whole VC battalion between a rock and a hard place and you proceeded to wax their plow, right?
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 14: These guys were just flat opposed to the possibility of getting their asses waxed.
1996		P. Beatty White Boy Shuffle 226: ‘Psycho Loco, everyone who’s ever challenged you, what have you done to ’em?’ ‘I waxed that ass’.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 14: You lucky I ain’t out there. We could bump shoulders and squab. Wax that ass, nigger.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 wax (2) Definition: [...] 2. to lose, a competition or game, in the worst possible manner. [...] Example: 2. Me an’ Pootie Tang was postin’ up on 139th street to see who could holla’ at more ho’s. I waxed his sorry ass.

wax something up (v.)

to ruin, to make a mess of; to cause trouble.

1899

C. Rook Hooligan Nights 8: Did I never tell you [...] how we waxed things up for that butcher as come down to the Walk?

SE in slang uses

In phrases

go wax a gaza [lit. ‘go climb a gas lamp’]

(Irish) a dismissive phr.

1997

Share Slanguage.

wax one’s carrot (v.)

to masturbate.

1998

(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 18: What’re you, waxin’ your little old carrot in there?

wax the dolphin (v.) (also wax the surfboard)

to masturbate; thus dolphin waxing n., masturbation.

1987		Eble Campus Sl. Oct. 7: wax the dolphin – masturbate.
1997–2002		Alt. Eng. Dict. 🌐 wax the dolphin The act of male masturbation.
1999–2001		quinnelk T. Rex’s Guide to Life 🌐 Okay, since people don’t want to actually say the m-word and the chicken and monkey phrases have been used to death on MTV, I thought it would be my duty to provide you with a bevy of other useful terminology that may be helpful in this area: [...] waxing your surfboard.
2002		Fingers Knott ‘A Little “Five on One”’ [poem] on S(c)htick.net 4 Oct. 🌐 Some will keep it simple / and offer ‘wanking’ or ‘self-help’ / others talk of dolphin waxing, / and laugh until they yelp.

wax up (v.) [SE wax, to polish] (US black)

to propitiate someone whom one has insulted or annoyed.

1983

R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].

wax v.2

In phrases

SE in slang uses

In phrases

wax v.²