Obs. Also chaff-wax. [f. CHAFE v. (sense 1) + WAX sb.] 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.
