sweet bay

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noun

an American magnolia, Magnolia virginiana, having large oblong leaves and fragrant, white flowers, common on the Atlantic coast.

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Origin of sweet bay

First recorded in 1710–20

Words nearby sweet bay

sweer, sweet, sweet alyssum, sweet-and-sour, sweet basil, sweet bay, sweet birch, sweetbread, sweetbrier, sweet cherry, sweet chestnut

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sweet bay in a sentence

The smell of grilled meat mixes with the exotic wafts of cinnamon tea served with a mush of sweet brown dessert.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech|Liza Foreman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
She was even sweet to that smug ingrate Miss Bunting after she kept insulting everyone at dinner.
‘Downton Abbey’ Review: A Fire, Some Sex, and Sad, Sad Edith|Kevin Fallon|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So just looking forward to taking our sweet ass time with this next one.
Deer Tick's John McCauley on Ten Years in Rock and Roll|James Joiner|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As part of the MassEquality coalition, Marc Solomon, a former Senate aide, was working to get Bay State legislators to vote no.
The Real Story Behind the Fight for Marriage Equality|E.J. Graff|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Adults prepare food and drink dark sweet tea on the doorsteps of their homes as they watch their children playing.
The Brothers Who Ambushed ISIS|Mohammed A. Salih|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She looked so sweet when she said it, standing and smiling there in the middle of the floor, the door-way making a frame for her.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
She did not need a great cook-book; She knew how much and what it took To make things good and sweet and light.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
So after a few minutes I remarked to him, "Everything tastes very sweet out of this spoon!"
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour, and make a fat offering, and then give place to the physician.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
First a shower of shells dropping all along the lower ridges and out over the surface of the Bay.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for sweet bay

sweet bay

noun

a small tree, Magnolia virginiana, of SE North America, having large fragrant white flowers: family Magnoliaceae (magnolias)Sometimes shortened to: bay

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