Sweet gum

Sweet gum
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. [1913 Webster]

2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense. [1913 Webster]

The breath of these flowers is sweet to me. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

To make his English sweet upon his tongue. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]

4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair; as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion. [1913 Webster]

Sweet interchange Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable; winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners. [1913 Webster]

Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades? --Job xxxviii. 31. [1913 Webster]

Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one established rule of Christian working. --M. Arnold. [1913 Webster]

Note: Sweet is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet-featured, sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet-toned, etc. [1913 Webster]

{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 asplenifolia} syn. {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. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • sweet gum — sweet′ gum′ n. 1) pln a tall, aromatic tree, Liquidambar styraciflua, of the witch hazel family, native to the eastern U.S., with star shaped leaves and fruits in rounded, burlike clusters 2) pln the hard reddish brown wood of this tree, used for …   From formal English to slang

  • sweet gum — n a No. American tree of the genus Liquidambar (L. styraciflua) with a round spiny brown fruit cluster and an inner bark that is the source of American storax …   Medical dictionary

  • sweet gum — [ US ˈ. .] n a tree with hard wood and groups of seeds like ↑prickly balls, common in North America …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • sweet gum — ☆ sweet gum n. 1. a large North American tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) of the witch hazel family, with alternate maplelike leaves, spiny fruit balls, and fragrant juice 2. the wood of this tree 3. STORAX (n. 1) …   English World dictionary

  • sweet gum — noun 1. a North American tree of the genus Liquidambar having prickly spherical fruit clusters and fragrant sap • Syn: ↑sweet gum tree, ↑bilsted, ↑red gum, ↑American sweet gum, ↑Liquidambar styraciflua • Hypernyms: ↑liquidambar …   Useful english dictionary

  • sweet gum — 1. a tall, aromatic tree, Liquidambar styraciflua, of the eastern U.S., having star shaped leaves and fruits in rounded, burlike clusters. 2. the hard reddish brown wood of this tree, used for making furniture. 3. the amber balsam exuded by this… …   Universalium

  • sweet-gum — tikrasis dervamedis statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Altingijinių šeimos dekoratyvinis, vaistinis augalas (Liquidambar styraciflua), paplitęs Šiaurės ir Pietų Amerikoje. Iš jo gaunami eterinis aliejus ir derva. atitikmenys: lot. Liquidambar… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • sweet gum — noun Date: 1700 1. a North American tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) of the witch hazel family with palmately lobed glossy green leaves, corky twigs, a round spiny brown fruit cluster, and hard wood 2. the smooth reddish brown wood of the sweet gum …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • sweet gum — /ˈswit gʌm/ (say sweet gum) noun → liquidambar (def. 1) …  

  • Sweet Gum Stable — Infobox nrhp | name =Sweet Gum Stable nrhp type = caption = location= New Albany, Indiana lat degrees = 38 | lat minutes = 16 | lat seconds = 48.52 | lat direction = N long degrees = 85 | long minutes = 49 | long seconds = 46.56 | long direction …   Wikipedia

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