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waxed

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

waxed: An archaic form of the verb "to become" or "to grow," used in literature to indicate a change of state, often in phrases like "he waxed old," adding a formal, poetic tone.

Detailed Definition
In older English, waxed means 'grew' or 'became,' especially in elevated or biblical-style writing. Byron uses it in a solemn, archaic register to describe the sleepers becoming 'deadly and chill.'
Example
Example in poetry:
“And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill” uses waxed to mean “grew” or “became”; “The moon waxes round above the hill” retains the older sense of increasing; “His anger waxed with every mile” shows emotional growth in a poetic narrative; “The daylight waxed, and frost withdrew” uses the term for strengthening light
Additional Notes
The verb in the quoted line is an archaic sense that many modern readers would not immediately recognize.; Found in the poem, The Destruction of Sennacherib by Lord Byron
Also Known As
polished finished refined smoothed
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