Sugar Definition & Meaning

American

British

Scientific

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms sugar American [shoog-er] / ˈʃʊg ər /

noun

1. a sweet, crystalline substance, C 1 2 H 2 2 O 1 1 , 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.

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

3. (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).

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

5. Slang. money.

6. Slang. LSD

verb (used with object)

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

2. to make agreeable.

verb (used without object)

1. to form sugar or sugar crystals.

2. to make maple sugar.

verb phrase

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

Sugar 1 British / ˈʃʊɡə /

noun

1. 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 sugar 2 British / ˈʃʊɡə /

noun

1. 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 11

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

3. informal a term of affection, esp for one's sweetheart

4. rare a slang word for money

5. a slang name for LSD

"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

verb

1. (tr) to add sugar to; make sweet

2. (tr) to cover or sprinkle with sugar

3. (intr) to produce sugar

4. to make something unpleasant more agreeable by adding something pleasant

   the government stopped wage increases but sugared the pill by reducing taxes

"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 sugar Scientific / shg′ər /

1. 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.

Other Word Forms

• nonsugar noun
• sugar-like adjective
• sugarless adjective
• sugarlike adjective

Etymology

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 ( sacchar- )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We also passed dense stands of thick-leaved yerba santa, California buckwheat, sugar bush and chilicothe vines and we were treated to the squawks of California scrub jays and a red-tail hawk flying overhead.

From Los Angeles Times

We were given rations of four ounces of bread a day, a pound of fat or sugar per month.

From Literature

No sugar, no milk, but I was used to that now.

From Literature

Revealing more about her gut health and dietary needs, Foy said she dramatically cut down on eating gluten or sugar in order to help manage a separate autoimmune condition.

From BBC

Changing preferences toward healthier eating have also pressured some of PepsiCo’s legacy brands that contain high amounts of sugar, sodium, or fat.

From Barron's

Related Words

• carbohydrate

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.