molasses
Americannoun
noun
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the thick brown uncrystallized bitter syrup obtained from sugar during refining
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Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): treacle. a dark viscous syrup obtained during the refining of sugar
Etymology
Origin of molasses
1575–85; earlier molassos, molasso ( e ) s < Portuguese melaços, plural of melaço (< Late Latin mellācium half-boiled new wine, for *mellāceum, neuter of *mellāceus honeylike, equivalent to mell-, stem of mel honey + -āceus -aceous )
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.
Rum is typically made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses, the thick treacle-like substance leftover after refined sugar has been produced from the harvested plants.
From BBC • Mar. 23, 2025
As a child, I loved eating ribs doused in sweet tangy KC BBQ sauce made with molasses, acidic vinegar and spicy chile powder alongside my cousins.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2024
Hardly a week goes by without using saffron, turmeric, pomegranate molasses, tamarind, cinnamon, or sumac in my cooking.
From Salon • Sep. 15, 2024
A low-viscosity fluid flows fast like water, while a viscous fluid acts more like molasses.
From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2024
The trees were a shade darker than he remembered, and much taller—their trunks stretched like molasses.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
