rock candy

American  

noun

1. sugar in large, hard, cohering crystals.

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rock candy British  

noun

1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): rock.  a hard candy, typically a long brightly-coloured peppermint-flavoured stick, sold esp in holiday resorts

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Etymology

Origin of rock candy

First recorded in 1715–25

Example Sentences

The tart fruit lingered on the palate like rock candy.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 15, 2021

X-ray crystallography saturates proteins in a salt bath solution until they form crystals akin to rock candy.

From National Geographic • Dec. 31, 2020

At first, I modeled in a schematic stem, so the spike looked a bit like a rock candy lollipop.

From Scientific American • Jun. 25, 2020

Rather than displaying repeating patterns, as do the crystals that form snowflakes or rock candy, quasi-crystals show non-repeating patterns.

From Washington Post • Mar. 15, 2016

I see a father coming home early, surprising everyone with rock candy sticks from the market, telling heroic stories from the hospital every night before bed.

From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani