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sugar

[shoo g-er]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sugar ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sweet, crystalline substance, C12H22O11, obtained chiefly from the juice of the sugarcane and the sugar beet, and present in sorghum, maple sap, etc.: used extensively as an ingredient and flavoring of certain foods and as a fermenting agent in the manufacture of certain alcoholic beverages; sucrose.Compare beet sugar, cane sugar.

Chemistry. a member of the same class of carbohydrates, as lactose, glucose, or fructose.

(sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address, as to a child or a romantic partner (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).

a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter S.

Slang. money.

Slang. LSD

verb (used with object)

to cover, sprinkle, mix, or sweeten with sugar.

to make agreeable.

verb (used without object)

to form sugar or sugar crystals.

to make maple sugar.

Verb Phrases

sugar off, (in making maple sugar) to complete the boiling down of the syrup in preparation for granulation.

Origin of sugar

1250–1300; Middle English sugre, sucre (noun) < Middle French sucre < Medieval Latin succārum < Italian zucchero < Arabic sukkar; obscurely akin to Persian shakar, Greek sákcharon (see sacchar-)

Related formssug·ar·less, adjectivesug·ar·like, adjectivenon·sug·ar, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sugar

carbohydrate, candy, levulose, lactose, saccharin, xylose, caramel, sucrose, maltose, fructose, dextrose, saccharose, sweetener, glucose

Examples from the Web for sugar

Contemporary Examples of sugar

Alcohol and sugar, even in moderate amounts, are not only sinful but poisonous.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze
Lizzie Crocker
January 9, 2015
Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
Make ‘The Chew’s’ Carla Hall’s Sticky Toffee Pudding
Carla Hall
December 28, 2014
Like Lent, the season of Advent was a period of reflection and fasting, and items such as dairy and sugar were forbidden.
One Cake to Rule Them All: How Stollen Stole Our Hearts
Molly Hannon
December 24, 2014
And so it was that the federal government did not shut down just when we all had visions of sugar plumbs dancing in our heads.
Congress’ Gift That Keeps on Giving
P. J. O’Rourke
December 20, 2014
Sports drinks and coconut water, which is lower in sugar, can also redeem electrolytes lost while drinking, says White.
5 Hangover Cures to Save You After a Few Too Many
DailyBurn
December 19, 2014

Historical Examples of sugar

She did not seem frightened, and ate readily the damper and sugar given her.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
The quantity of sugar produced was small compared to that produced on other estates.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
Add the sugar to the water and cook until the sugar is dissolved.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Pour this into the liquid and add the sugar and the juice of the lemon.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Make 1/2 cupful of the sugar and the 1/2 cupful of water into caramel.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

British Dictionary definitions for sugar

sugar

noun

Also called: sucrose, saccharose a white crystalline sweet carbohydrate, a disaccharide, found in many plants and extracted from sugar cane and sugar beet: it is used esp as a sweetening agent in food and drinks. Formula: C 12 H 22 O 11Related adjective: saccharine

any of a class of simple water-soluble carbohydrates, such as sucrose, lactose, and fructose

informal, mainly US and Canadian a term of affection, esp for one's sweetheart

rare a slang word for money

a slang name for LSD

verb

(tr) to add sugar to; make sweet

(tr) to cover or sprinkle with sugar

(intr) to produce sugar

sugar the pill or sugar the medicine to make something unpleasant more agreeable by adding something pleasantthe government stopped wage increases but sugared the pill by reducing taxes

Derived Formssugarless, adjectivesugar-like, adjective

Word Origin for sugar

C13 suker, from Old French çucre, from Medieval Latin zuccārum, from Italian zucchero, from Arabic sukkar, from Persian shakar, from Sanskrit śarkarā

Sugar

noun

Alan (Michael). Baron. born 1947, British electronics entrepreneur; chairman of Amstrad (1968–2008); noted for his BBC series The Apprentice (from 2005)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sugar

n.

late 13c., sugre, from Old French sucre "sugar" (12c.), from Medieval Latin succarum, from Arabic sukkar, from Persian shakar, from Sanskrit sharkara "ground or candied sugar," originally "grit, gravel" (cognate with Greek kroke "pebble"). The Arabic word also was borrowed in Italian (zucchero), Spanish (azucar), and German (Old High German zucura, German Zucker), and its forms are represented in most European languages (cf. Serb. cukar, Polish cukier, Russian sakhar).

Its Old World home was India (Alexander the Great's companions marveled at the "honey without bees") and it remained exotic in Europe until the Arabs began to cultivate it in Sicily and Spain; not until after the Crusades did it begin to rival honey as the West's sweetener. The Spaniards in the West Indies began raising sugar cane in 1506; first grown in Cuba 1523; first cultivated in Brazil 1532. The -g- in the English form cannot be accounted for. The pronunciation shift from s- to sh- is probably from the initial long vowel sound syu- (as in sure). Slang "euphemistic substitute for an imprecation" [OED] is attested from 1891. As a term of endearment, first recorded 1930. Sugar maple is from 1753. Sugar loaf was originally a moulded conical mass of refined sugar (early 15c.); they're now obsolete, but sense extended 17c. to hills, hats, etc. of that shape.

v.

early 15c., "to sweeten with sugar," also figuratively, "to make more pleasing, mitigate the harshness of," from sugar (n.). Related: Sugared; sugaring.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

sugar in Medicine

sugar

[shug′ər]

n.

A crystalline or powdered substance consisting of sucrose obtained mainly from sugar cane and sugar beets and used in many medicines to improve their taste.

Any of a class of water-soluble crystalline carbohydrates, including sucrose and lactose, having a characteristically sweet taste and classified as monosaccharides, disaccharides, and trisaccharides.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

sugar in Science

sugar

[shug′ər]

Any of a class of crystalline carbohydrates that are water-soluble, have a characteristic sweet taste, and are universally present in animals and plants. They are characterized by the many OH groups they contain. Sugars are monosaccharides or small oligosaccharides, and include sucrose, glucose, and lactose.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.