wax vesta

• wax-vesta

wax vesta (plural wax vestas)

1. (historical) A type of early safety match having a wax stem and a phosphorus tip.
   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     Suddenly I remembered that I had a tin box of wax-vestas in my pocket.

   • 1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 150:

     Of their boxes of wax vestas, two were completely ruined, the heads soft from sweat.