molasses

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A thick, sweet syrup drained from sugarcane, especially (Canada, US) the still thicker and sweeter syrup produced by boiling down raw molasses.

   Well, we had our breakfast of ship's bread and molasses, washed down with cannikins of something liquid - but not lovely.

2. 2
   noun

   Any similarly thick and sweet syrup produced by boiling down fruit juices, tree saps, etc., especially concentrated maple syrup.

   Boiled some cornstalk juice into molasses.

3. 3
   noun

   Anything considered figuratively sweet, especially sweet words.

   He really poured on the molasses, charming his audience and changing more than a few votes.

4. 4
   noun

   Something which moves or works extremely slowly.

   Though faster than typing, the daisy wheel is molasses compared to dot matrix printers.

From Portuguese melaços or Spanish melazos, from Late Latin mellacium (“must, honey-sweet thing”), from mel (“honey”) + -āceus (“-aceous”) + -ium, q.v. Some alternative forms derived or influenced by Spanish melaza and French mélasse, conjectured to derive from unattested Late Latin mellacea, from mel + -ācea.

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