sugar

Etymology

From Middle English sugre, sucre, from Middle French sucre, from Old French çucre (circa 13th century), from Old Italian zucchero (or another vernacular of Italy), from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), from Persian شکر (šakar), from Middle Persian [script needed] (škl), 𐫢𐫞𐫡 (šqr /⁠šakar⁠/), from Sanskrit शर्करा (śárkarā, “ground or candied sugar", originally "grit, gravel”). Akin to Ancient Greek κρόκη (krókē, “pebble”). Doublet of jaggery and sucro-.

noun

1. (uncountable) Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used to sweeten food and drink.
   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. April 1 1895, “The Present Crisis”, in The Sugar Cane, volume 27, number 309, page 171
   Even in extreme cases such as chemical pollution in the Florida Everglades from heavily subsidized sugar farming, strong regulations are routinely blocked by industry. 2013, Robert Paarlberg, Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know?
2. (countable) A 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 quality September 18 1915, “Drying Sugars Essential to Their Preservation”, in The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, volume 55
3. (countable, chemistry) Any of various small carbohydrates that are used by organisms to store energy.
   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
   The major free sugars in plants are the monosaccharides, glucose and fructose (and the disaccharide sucros), together with traces of xylose, rhamnose and galactose. 1998, A.J. Harborne, Phytochemical Methods A Guide to Modern Techniques of Plant Analysis
   Although H. bertonii relies on scale insects to prepare its parasitism site on plants, it directly absorbs and utilizes plant sugars. 2007, Ajit Varma, Plant Surface Microbiology
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
   Skim milk, two sugar. 1993, 1:13:03 from the start, in Groundhog Day, spoken by Phil (Bill Murray)
   Then there are the coffees, one with two sweeteners and no milk, one with one sweetener and milk, one with three sugars and a dash of milk, one with one sugar and lots of milk and finally her Uncle Samad who says that anything is fine. 2016, Ameera Patel, Outside the Lines
5. (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 you 1969, “Sugar, Sugar”, in Everything's Archie, performed by The Archies
6. (uncountable, slang) Affection shown by kisses or kissing.
   Gimme some sugar, baby. 1992, Army of Darkness, spoken by Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell)
7. (chiefly 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
   The crossdresser is showing the desire to be "sugar and spice" through feminine clothing and through the expression of feminine feelings. 1999, Peggy J. Rudd, My Husband Wears My Clothes
   Because of Patrick's mannerisms, the players teased him by referring to him as “Sweetness” or saying that he had “sugar” in his pants. 2008, Reuben A. Buford May, Living Through the Hoop
8. (uncountable, informal) 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 Indies, where 'sugar' was believed to be rare and diabetes common. 2002, Mrs Sheila Hillier, David Kelleher, Researching Cultural Differences in Health, 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, page 53
   Don't you love it when you start a new Disease - the pamphlets, the prescriptions, the attention? And the past turning ironic, cloudy, as if you'd added a chemical - my house painter saying he has sugar, reminding me of my mother demanding the sweet drool from every baby. 2004, Diane M. Parker, Ruth E. Mark, Reflections on a Life with Diabetes: A Memoir in Many Voices, page 57
   The doctor told me I had sugar and would have to take pills. 2008, De'lois Washington McMillan, Suppose Jesus Had Thrown in the Towel and Given Up on Us
   The memorable event was watching my father test urine, his or that of sundry other folks who had “sugar”, as diabetes was known in the rural hills of Jamaica where I grew up. 2012, Bert Fraser-Reid, From Sugar to Splenda
9. (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 Sulphureous, dissolved by an Acid. 1717, M. de Fontenelle, “Upon the Iron of Plants”, in The Lives of the French, Italian and German Philosophers
   The fluor acid, the acid of sugar, of phosphorus, and vitriol, separate magnelia from the acid of arsenic; but the acid of tartar, united with arsenicated magnesia, is generally found to compose a triple salt. 1788, Torbern Olof Bergman, “Of Magnesia”, in E. Cullen, transl., Physical and chemical essays, volume 1, translation of original in Swedish, page 448
   Sugar of milk is now produced by partly chemical means from milk-whey, the product being about two and a half pounds per hundred pounds of whey. 1904, “Process of Making Milk Sugar”, in The American Sugar Industry and Beer Sugar Gazette, volume 6, page 392
10. Compliment or flattery used to disguise or render acceptable something obnoxious; honeyed or soothing words.
11. (US, slang, uncountable) Heroin.
12. (US, slang, uncountable, dated) Money.
13. (programming) Syntactic sugar.
    However, this bookkeeping is much less local syntax and sugar. 2005, Bruce Ian Mills, Theoretical Introduction to Programming, page 180

verb

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
   "There spoke the real British scorn," she said, sugaring her tea, "the fine British contempt for every other nation." 1905, “The Duke of Castle Blanco”, in The Quiver, page 1007
   Moreover, the residents recalled that the aristocrat's pet canary had become like a personal retainer, waking his master in the morning and sugaring his drink. 2002, Frank Tallis, Hidden Minds: A History of the Unconscious
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
   She shook her head sadly at him. "No, it won't do, Arthur. I'm not in a mood to be sugared." 1917, Mrs. Florence Guertin Tuttle, Give My Love to Maria
   But step by step, aided by Claude Morin's arguments, Lévesque had led the party through the process of sugaring what he saw as the pill of independence. 2001, Graham Fraser, René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois in Power
3. (US, Canada, 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
   During the spring in Quebec and Ontario, maple syrup is harvested, or "sugared off," a process which is usually celebrated as a social event. 2004, Lois Sakany, Canada: A Primary Source Cultural Guide
4. (entomology) 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
   Sugaring attracts some species of moth that do not readily come to light. 2006, William J. Sutherland, Ecological Census Techniques: A Handbook
5. (programming, 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.

intj

1. (minced oath) Used in place 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
   But they do not even hope for such a thing in '08, and fear far worse: Sister Suzanne Thibault, a lifelong Republican so mild she shouts, “Oh, sugar!” when annoyed, posits that if Hillary Clinton were nominated, “She'd get killed, literally assassinated. We have too many right-wing people out there who would do that." 2007, Melinda Henneberger, If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Politicians to Hear
   “Oh, sugar.” His room was empty. 2012, Macy Beckett, Sultry with a Twist