Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Sweet?

\Sweet\, a. [Compar. {Sweeter}; superl. {Sweetest}.] [OE. swete, swote, sote, AS. sw[=e]te; akin to OFries. sw[=e]te, OS. sw[=o]ti, D. zoet, G. s["u]ss, OHG. suozi, Icel. s[ae]tr, s[oe]tr, Sw. s["o]t, Dan. s["o]d, Goth. suts, L. suavis, for suadvis, Gr. ?, Skr. sv[=a]du sweet, svad, sv[=a]d, to sweeten. [root]175. Cf. {Assuage}, {Suave}, {Suasion}.] 1. Having an agreeable taste or flavor such as that of sugar; saccharine; -- opposed to sour and bitter; as, a sweet beverage; sweet fruits; sweet oranges. 2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense. The breath of these flowers is sweet to me. --Longfellow. 3. Pleasing to the ear; soft; melodious; harmonious; as, the sweet notes of a flute or an organ; sweet music; a sweet voice; a sweet singer. To make his English sweet upon his tongue. --Chaucer. A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful. --Hawthorne. 4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair; as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion. Sweet interchange Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains. --Milton. 5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water. --Bacon. 6. Not changed from a sound or wholesome state. Specifically: (a) Not sour; as, sweet milk or bread. (b) Not state; not putrescent or putrid; not rancid; as, sweet butter; sweet meat or fish. 7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable; winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners. Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades? --Job xxxviii. 31. Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one established rule of Christian working. --M. Arnold. Note: Sweet is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet-featured, sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet-toned, etc. {Sweet alyssum}. (Bot.) See {Alyssum}. {Sweet apple}. (Bot.) (a) Any apple of sweet flavor. (b) See {Sweet-top}. {Sweet bay}. (Bot.) (a) The laurel ({laurus nobilis}). (b) Swamp sassafras. {Sweet calabash} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Passiflora} ({P. maliformis}) growing in the West Indies, and producing a roundish, edible fruit, the size of an apple. {Sweet cicely}. (Bot.) (a) Either of the North American plants of the umbelliferous genus {Osmorrhiza} having aromatic roots and seeds, and white flowers. --Gray. (b) A plant of the genus {Myrrhis} ({M. odorata}) growing in England. {Sweet calamus}, or {Sweet cane}. (Bot.) Same as {Sweet flag}, below. {Sweet Cistus} (Bot.), an evergreen shrub ({Cistus Ladanum}) from which the gum ladanum is obtained. {Sweet clover}. (Bot.) See {Melilot}. {Sweet coltsfoot} (Bot.), a kind of butterbur ({Petasites sagittata}) found in Western North America. {Sweet corn} (Bot.), a variety of the maize of a sweet taste. See the Note under {Corn}. {Sweet fern} (Bot.), a small North American shrub ({Comptonia, or Myrica, asplenifolia}) having sweet-scented or aromatic leaves resembling fern leaves. {Sweet flag} (Bot.), an endogenous plant ({Acorus Calamus}) having long flaglike leaves and a rootstock of a pungent aromatic taste. It is found in wet places in Europe and America. See {Calamus}, 2. {Sweet gale} (Bot.), a shrub ({Myrica Gale}) having bitter fragrant leaves; -- also called {sweet willow}, and {Dutch myrtle}. See 5th {Gale}. {Sweet grass} (Bot.), holy, or Seneca, grass. {Sweet gum} (Bot.), an American tree ({Liquidambar styraciflua}). See {Liquidambar}. {Sweet herbs}, fragrant herbs cultivated for culinary purposes. {Sweet John} (Bot.), a variety of the sweet William. {Sweet leaf} (Bot.), horse sugar. See under {Horse}. {Sweet marjoram}. (Bot.) See {Marjoram}. {Sweet marten} (Zo["o]l.), the pine marten. {Sweet maudlin} (Bot.), a composite plant ({Achillea Ageratum}) allied to milfoil. {Sweet oil}, olive oil. {Sweet pea}. (Bot.) See under {Pea}. {Sweet potato}. (Bot.) See under {Potato}. {Sweet rush} (Bot.), sweet flag. {Sweet spirits of niter} (Med. Chem.) See {Spirit of nitrous ether}, under {Spirit}. {Sweet sultan} (Bot.), an annual composite plant ({Centaurea moschata}), also, the yellow-flowered ({C. odorata}); -- called also {sultan flower}. {Sweet tooth}, an especial fondness for sweet things or for sweetmeats. [Colloq.] {Sweet William}. (a) (Bot.) A species of pink ({Dianthus barbatus}) of many varieties. (b) (Zo["o]l.) The willow warbler. (c) (Zo["o]l.) The European goldfinch; -- called also {sweet Billy}. [Prov. Eng.] {Sweet willow} (Bot.), sweet gale. {Sweet wine}. See {Dry wine}, under {Dry}. {To be sweet on}, to have a particular fondness for, or special interest in, as a young man for a young woman. [Colloq.] --Thackeray. Syn: Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious.
\Sweet\, n. 1. That which is sweet to the taste; -- used chiefly in the plural. Specifically: (a) Confectionery, sweetmeats, preserves, etc. (b) Home-made wines, cordials, metheglin, etc. 2. That which is sweet or pleasant in odor; a perfume. ``A wilderness of sweets.'' --Milton. 3. That which is pleasing or grateful to the mind; as, the sweets of domestic life. A little bitter mingled in our cup leaves no relish of the sweet. --Locke. 4. One who is dear to another; a darling; -- a term of endearment. ``Wherefore frowns my sweet?'' --B. Jonson.
\Sweet\, adv. Sweetly. --Shak.
\Sweet\, v. t. To sweeten. [Obs.] --Udall.