lollipop
Americannoun
noun
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a boiled sweet or toffee stuck on a small wooden stick
-
another word for ice lolly
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
A lollipop man said he had been told he could no longer high-five children while they are crossing the road because it slows down traffic.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 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
She was a pretty nice nurse, and Sam liked her just fine, and sometimes she gave him a lollipop before he went home.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
She bought lollipops and a teddy bear, and by 10 a.m. she had set up shop outside a campus dining hall where she consoled students Sunday morning with offers of “free mom hugs.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
Then it’s been rainbows and lollipops once the rest of America tuned in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2024
During Vodou ceremonies, lwa are offered treats ranging from papayas and coffee to popcorn, lollipops and cheese puffs.
From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2024
One of the earliest uses of the phrase can be traced back to a 2022 viral post in which a man appears to hand out lollipops to women on a French street.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2023
In Hazel’s hands they looked a little like deformed lollipops.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
