lollipop

American  

[lol-ee-pop] / ˈlɒl iˌpɒp /

Or lollypop

noun

1. a piece of hard candy attached to the end of a small stick that is held in the hand while the candy is licked.

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lollipop British  

/ ˈlɒlɪˌpɒp /

noun

1. a boiled sweet or toffee stuck on a small wooden stick

2. another word for ice lolly

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Etymology

Origin of lollipop

1785–95; dial. lolly tongue + pop ¹

Explanation

A lollipop is hard candy on a stick that you lick or suck. You may suck on a lollipop and be surprised to find candy or gum in its center. Bonus! Some lollipops are small, round, and fruity, while others are swirls of color as big as your head. Still other lollipops are long and skinny, or filled with liquid or bubble gum centers. The thing they all have in common is the stick you hold while eating them. Guesses about the origin of the lolli or lolly part of this word include to loll, or "dangle" the tongue, or the north England dialect "tongue" meaning of lolly.

Example Sentences

Despite briefly retiring at 70, it wasn't long before he returned to the lollipop at Sale High School, where he has been working ever since - for more than 17 years.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

At an assisted-living home, Vinit Shinde lay paralyzed in bed attempting to suck on a lollipop.

From Slate • Dec. 8, 2025

This pubescent Vance has been adorned with a rainbow propeller hat and a swirly lollipop, morphed into a patriotic Minion from Despicable Me, and rendered as lisping Hans Landa, the Nazi villain from Inglourious Basterds.

From Slate • Mar. 5, 2025

The couple also successfully bid on Morecambe's first prop - a wooden lollipop with a bite out of it, used by a young Eric Morecambe in his routine "Youth Takes a Bow" in about 1940.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2025

I wandered around lost until a pilot took me to his airline’s office and gave me a lollipop.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García