Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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verb
To progress cyclically through various phases, such as growth and senescence.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To alternate; to increase and diminish in turn.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Literally, “grow and shrink”. Compare wax with the German cognate wachsen (“to grow”). Originally (c. 14th century) used referring to the phases of the Moon. Folk etymology has occasionally mistakenly presumed the phrase to be a reference to candles, under the notion that they are produced by applying wax to a wick and then begin to wane once they are lit.
