Sweet

Sweet, swēt, adj. pleasing to the taste or senses: tasting like sugar: fragrant: melodious: beautiful, grateful to the eye: fresh, as opposed to salt or to sour: pure: recent, not stale, sour, or putrid: mild, soft, gentle: kind, obliging.—n. a sweet substance: a term of endearment: (pl.) sweetmeats, confections: sweet dishes served at table, puddings, tarts, jellies, &c.—v.t. (obs.) to sweeten.—adj. Sweet′-and-twen′ty (Shak.), at once fair and young.—ns. Sweet′-bay, the laurel (Laurus nobilis); Sweet′bread, the pancreas of an animal used for food, both delicate and nutritious.—adj. Sweet′-breathed, sweet-smelling.—ns. Sweet′-brī′er, a thorny shrub of the rose kind resembling the brier, having a sweet smell; Sweet′-corn, a variety of maize.—v.t. Sweet′en, to make sweet: to make pleasing, mild, or kind: to increase the agreeable qualities of: to make pure and healthy.—ns. Sweet′ener, one who, or that which, sweetens; Sweet′ening, act of sweetening: that which sweetens; Sweet′-flag, -rush, an aromatic plant of the genus Acorus of the arum family; Sweet′heart, a lover or mistress.—n.pl. Sweet′ies, confections.—n. Sweet′ing, a sweet apple: (Shak.) a darling, a word of endearment.—adj. Sweet′ish, somewhat sweet to the taste.—ns. Sweet′ishness; Sweet′-john, a flower of the narrow-leaved varieties of a species of pink, Dianthus barbatus, as distinguished from other varieties called Sweet-william; Sweet′leaf, a small tree in the southern United States, having sweetish leaves relished by cattle and horses; Sweet′-lips, one whose lips are sweet—a term of endearment: the ballanwrasse, or Labrus maculatus.—adv. Sweet′ly.—ns. Sweet′-mar′joram, a fragrant species of marjoram; Sweet′meat, a confection made wholly or chiefly of sugar; Sweet′-nan′cy, the double-flowered variety of Narcissus poeticus; Sweet′ness; Sweet′-oil, olive-oil; Sweet′-pea, a pea cultivated for its fragrance and beauty; Sweet′-potā′to, a twining plant common in tropical and sub-tropical countries, having large sweetish edible tubers.—adj. Sweet′-scent′ed, having a sweet smell.—n. Sweet′-sop, a tropical American evergreen, also its pulpy fruit.—adj. Sweet′-tem′pered, having a mild, amiable disposition.—ns. Sweet′-wa′ter, a white variety of the European grape, with very sweet juice; Sweet′-will′iam, the bunch-pink, Dianthus barbatus, a garden flower of many colours and varieties; Sweet′wood, a name applied to various trees and shrubs of the laurel family found in South America and the West Indies.—Be sweet on, or upon, to be in love with. [A.S. swéte; Ger. süsz, Gr. hēdys, L. suavis, sweet, Sans. svad, to taste.]