sugar

Noun (1)

sugar (countable and uncountable, plural sugars)

1. (uncountable) A food consisting of small, sweet crystals, principally of sucrose, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used as sweetener and preservative.
   • To a pound of gooseberries take a pound and a half of double-refined sugar. Clarify the sugar with water, a pint to a pound of sugar, and when the syrup is cold, put the gooseberries single in your preserving pan, put the syrup to them, and set them on a gentle fire.1792, Francis Collingwood, The universal cook: and city and country housekeeper
   • There appears to be no prospect of success in attempting to combat the crisis by international arrangement, and any improvement in sugar prices can only be looked for from a diminution of the production, either as a consequence of deficient crops, or of a reduction in manufacture.1895 April 1, “The Present Crisis”, in The Sugar Cane, volume 27, number 309, page 171
2. (countable) Any specific variety of sugar.
   • The experience of sugar planters in Louisiana this year in holding their sugars in warehouse for future sales at better prices has revealed again, as it has done heretofore, the fact that the presence of moisture in the sugars is inimical to their maintaining their standard of quality1915 September 18, “Drying Sugars Essential to Their Preservation”, in The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, volume 55
3. (countable) Any of various small, water-soluble carbohydrates such as are used by organisms for energy and various other purposes.
   • At the end of the second week there were less reducing sugars in the unpruned plants than in the previous week, but those in the pruned plants were the same.1942, James E. Kraus, Effects of partial defoliation at transplanting time on subsequent
   • Generally speaking, plants have a much greater variety of sugars and linkages than animal tissues have.1994, Peter J. Van Soest, Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant
4. (countable) A small serving of this substance (typically about one teaspoon), used to sweeten a drink.
   • He usually has his coffee white with one sugar.
   • “A slice of lemon and two sugars, please.” “You needn't have said that. I know how you like your tea. I know how you like everything.”1916, Cosmo Hamilton, “Miss Fanny Goes to Great Lengths”, in The World To-day: A Monthly Record of Human Progress, volume 30
5. A bowl or other container of sugar.
   • Pass the sugar, please
6. (countable) A term of endearment.
   • I'll be with you in a moment, sugar.
   • Sugar, ah honey honey / You are my candy girl / And you've got me wanting you1969, “Sugar, Sugar”, in Everything's Archie, performed by The Archies

   Synonyms:

   babber, babe, precious, bae, baby, babycakes, bubba, bully, buttercup, cabbage

7. (slang, uncountable) Affection shown by kisses or kissing.
   • Gimme some sugar, baby.1992, Army of Darkness, spoken by Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell)
8. (Southern, US, slang, uncountable) Effeminacy in a male, often implying homosexuality.
   • I think John has a little bit of sugar in him.
   • There are depths and heights of beauty in him beyond tears - but there is no sugar, not even any honey.1998, Lene Østermark-Johansen, Sweetness and Strength, →ISBN
9. (informal, uncountable) Diabetes.
   • One respondent said that he had been told by his doctor that he had 'sugar' and diabetes, thus affirming for him the distinctiveness of the two illnesses. The distinction made sense to some of them as the relationship between diabetes and 'sugar' seemed to relate to their experiences of the West...2002, Mrs Sheila Hillier, David Kelleher, Researching Cultural Differences in Health, →ISBN, page 94
   • The veterinarian said his real problem was that he had sugar, and not to concentrate on the problem with his eyes.2003, Tom Lee, Above All We Ask Or Think, →ISBN, page 53
10. (dated) Anything resembling sugar in taste or appearance, especially in chemistry.
    • Sugar of lead (lead acetate) is a poisonous white crystalline substance with a sweet taste.
    • Mons. Lemery is of Opinion that Sweetness proceeds from a close Mixture of an Acid with a Sulphur, or with an Oyl that temperates and corrects it; he supports his Conjecture by the instance of Sugar of Saturn, so called from its Sweetness, which is Lead, a Metal insipid in its self, but very...1717, M. de Fontenelle, “Upon the Iron of Plants”, in The Lives of the French, Italian and German Philosophers
11. Compliment or flattery used to disguise or render acceptable something obnoxious; honeyed or soothing words.
12. (US, slang, uncountable) Heroin.

    Synonyms:

    Big H, boy, brown sugar, brown, bujj, diacetylmorphine, diamorphine, dog food, dope, dugee

13. (US, dated, slang, uncountable) Money.
14. Syntactic sugar.
    • However, this bookkeeping is much less local syntax and sugar.2005, Bruce Ian Mills, Theoretical Introduction to Programming, page 180

Verb

sugar (third-person singular simple present sugars, present participle sugaring, simple past and past participle sugared)

1. (transitive) To add sugar to; to sweeten with sugar.
   • John heavily sugars his coffee.
   • See, I've put sugar-plums on his coat for fancy buttons, sugared his shirt-frill, and put on a red almond to his hat-front.1876, Emilie Foster, Teddy and His Friends

   Synonyms:

   sweeten

2. (transitive) To make (something unpleasant) seem less so.
   • She has a gift for sugaring what would otherwise be harsh words.
   • He also published the "Weekly Recorder," an indefinite title, which was his way of sugaring what soon became in the region where it was published, Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, a very bitter pill.1890, Anson De Puy Van Buren, Michigan in her pioneer politics

   Synonyms:

   sweeten, sugar-coat

3. (Canada, US, regional) In making maple sugar, to complete the process of boiling down the syrup till it is thick enough to crystallize; to approach or reach the state of granulation; with the preposition off.
   • To sugar off, I prefer using a kettle that will hold about half a. barrel; and boil over a brisk, steady fire, till on dropping some of the syrup into cold water it will break like glass, then dip it into wooden trays to cool, and when it is grained stir it briskly.1851, J. D. H., “On Making Maple Syrup”, in The Ohio Cultivator, volume 7, page 91
   • A long time ago my grandmother and I used to boil maple sap. When she sugared off, I stood there.1994, “Sugaring Off”, in Nindinawemaagan Giwitaa'ayeyii, volume 6, page 55
4. To apply sugar to trees or plants in order to catch moths.
   • Some entomologists assert that it is useless to sugar when ivy is in bloom.1876, W. Sandison, “Note on sugaring”, in The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, volume 12, page 207
   • The latter are best taken by "sugaring" — painting patches of mixed beer and sugar on a series of tree trunks, and making several rounds at twilight with a lantern and a cyanide bottle.1921, Arthur Herbert Savory, Grain and Chaff from an English Manor
5. (transitive) To rewrite (source code) using syntactic sugar.
   • You can sugar the syntax of constants thus: […]2002, Jonathan Bromley, “Fixed point arithmetic”, in comp.arch.fpga (Usenet)
   • Sure, you could sugar the latter to look like the former (effectively implementing closures as objects), but it seems simpler to just allow the former.2006, Neil Madden, “Re: Closures”, in comp.lang.tcl (Usenet)
6. (transitive) To compliment (a person).
7. To remove hair using a paste of sugar, water, and lemon juice.

Interjection

1. Minced oath of shit.
   • Oh, sugar!
   • "Oh, sugar! I suppose that's so," reflected Tobias, filling his pipe.1920, James A. Cooper, Tobias O' the Light: A Story of Cape Cod

Noun (2) capitalized: Sugar

Sugar

1. (World War II era, joint US/RAF) radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter S.

   Synonyms:

   Sierra

Proper noun capitalized: Sugar

Sugar (plural Sugars)

1. A surname.