wax and wane

wax and wane

To alternatingly increase (wax) and decrease (wane). My fortune has waxed and waned over the years, but I live simply anyway, and it has never affected me much. Voter turnout waxes and wanes depending on which positions are up for election.
See also: and, wane, wax
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

wax and wane

Fig. to increase and then decrease, as the phases of the moon. As the moon waxes and wanes, so does the height of the tide change. Voter sentiment about the tax proposal waxes and wanes with each passing day.
See also: and, wane, wax
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

wax and wane

Increase and decrease, as in size, number, strength, or intensity, as in Enrollments in these programs wax and wane from year to year. This expression alludes to the phases of the moon, with its periodic changes in size. It was first recorded in the 1300s.
See also: and, wane, wax
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

wax and wane

undergo alternate increases and decreases.
2002 New York Times The level of security that people are psychologically able to accept changes as crisis situations wax and wane.
See also: and, wane, wax
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

ˌwax and ˈwane

(literary) increase then decrease in strength, importance, etc. over a period of time: The government’s popularity has waxed and waned over the past year.
These two verbs describe the changing shape of the moon in the sky. When the moon waxes, more of it is visible, and when it wanes we see less of it.
See also: and, wane, wax
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • lucky at cards, unlucky in love
  • small fortune
  • a small fortune
  • every flow has its ebb
  • every flow must have its ebb
  • and counting
  • ebb and flow
  • the ebb and flow
  • waxed
  • lyrical
References in classic literature
DIM vales - and shadowy floods - And cloudy-looking woods, Whose forms we can't discover For the tears that drip all over Huge moons there wax and wane - Again - again - again - Every moment of the night - Forever changing places - And they put out the star-light With the breath from their pale faces.
Poems
I watched the glowing end of his cigar wax and wane in the gloom, as the sentences rose and fell, till I was nearly asleep.
From Mine Own People
This can occur with a musculoskeletal injury, such as a strained knee or hip, which can wax and wane. If parasites are irritating her skin, cats behave like this too.
VET the ASK
WAX AND WANE Just 12% of men admit to liking a completely hairless bikini line.
what's hot; northern fashion
MD, Coventry ARESEARCHERS have found that sexual desire, especially in women, does wax and wane according to the number of opportunities that occur.
Injury's killed my sex drive
of Toronto), Subotnick (American Psychological Association), and 15 professionals contribute to lively discussions on a different perspective: that talent can be extremely specific and that it can wax and wane over time.
The development of giftedness and talent across the life span
Why does the Moon wax and wane? - Simon Carter, Sheffield.
YOU ASK & WE ANSWER
As tics wax and wane even during treatment, treating physicians can get caught "chasing" tics by upping the dose, and adding or changing meds.
Focus on comorbidities, not tics, in Tourette's
As tics wax and wane even during treatment, doctors can get caught "chasing" tics by up-ping the dose, and adding or changing meds.
In Tourette's, focus on comorbidities
A group of Danish scientists had spent several years researching historical data on temperature changes in Europe over the past thousand years and had come to the conclusion that, not only did the sun's output wax and wane a but also the axis on which the earth revolves is not static and has a couple of small wobbles in it.
Letter: Global truth
Many books promote fitness programs and such programs wax and wane; but a core fitness program should be followed for life--and that's what Total Core Fitness: Stronger, Leaner, And Fitter To The Core advocates.
Total Core Fitness
Two teams--one led by Garmire using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the other led by Andrea De Luca of the National Institute of Astrophysics in Milan using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite--have found that X rays emitted by the star wax and wane every 6.7 hours.
Explosive aftermath: sluggish neutron star puzzles astronomers
It made one think of painting itself as having a life, as being like a living organism: individual works, but also more generally artists' performances in the medium, can wax and wane. On balance, I think "survival" rather than "triumph" is the appropriate word.
Wheel of fortune: Svetlana Alpers on painting past and present
There are many reasons--most of them internal--for why reform movements within a country wax and wane. But it is hard to claim that the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq was responsible for pro-democratic reactions in some Middle Eastern countries, but not for anti-democratic reactions in others.
War didn't, and doesn't, bring democracy