or lad of wax, subs. phr. (old).—A sharp, clever fellow; a model man.
1595. SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet, i. 3. Nurse. … Why, he’s a MAN OF WAX. … Nay, he’s a flower, i’ faith, a very flower.
1609. FIELD, A Woman is a Weathercock [DODSLEY, Old Plays, 1874, xi., 19]. By Jove! it is a little MAN OF WAX.
1823. W. T. MONCRIEFF, Tom and Jerry, iii. 3.
| A glass of good max, had they twigg’d it, | |
| Wou’d have made them, like us, LADS OF WAX. |
