† ˈchafe-wax Obs.
Also chaff-wax.
[f. chafe v. (sense 1) + wax n.]
An officer attending on the Lord Chancellor, whose duty it was to prepare the wax for sealing documents. The office was abolished in 1852.
| 1607 Cowell Interpr., Chafewax is an officer in chauncery, that fitteth the waxe for the sealing of the writs. 1614 Ellesmere in Ld. Campbell Chancellors (1857) II. l. 358 The poore Sealer and Chaffewax and ther dependantes. 1673 Lond. Gaz. No. 750/4 The Chafe wax to the Great Seal. 1886 Law Times LXXXI. 442/2 The now obsolete office of chaffwax to the Lord Chancellor. |