wax and wane
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to increase and decrease in intensity or amount
Literally: to grow and shrink like the moon's phases
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “Irreversible binomial” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “wax and wane” mean?
to increase and decrease in intensity or amount Literally: to grow and shrink like the moon's phases
Is “wax and wane” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.