Sweet , v. t. To sweeten. [Obs.]
Udall.
Sweet , adv. Sweetly. Shak.
Sweet (?), n.
1. That which is sweet to the
taste; -- used chiefly in the plural. Specifically: (a) Confectionery, sweetmeats, preserves,
etc. (b) Home-made wines, cordials, metheglin, etc.
2.
That which is sweet or pleasant in odor; a perfume. "A wilderness of sweets."
Milton.
3. That which is pleasing or grateful to the mind; as,
the sweets of domestic life.
A little bitter mingled in our cup leaves no relish of the
sweet.
Locke.
4. One who is dear to another; a
darling; -- a term of endearment. "Wherefore frowns my sweet?" B. Jonson.
Sweet (?), a.
[Compar. Sweeter (?); superl.
Sweetest.]
[OE. swete, swote, sote, AS. swēte; akin to OFries. swēte,
OS. swōti, D.
zoet, G. süss,
OHG. suozi, Icel. sætr, sœtr, Sw. söt, Dan. söd, Goth. suts, L. suavis,
for suadvis, Gr. &?;, Skr. svādu
sweet, svad, svād, to sweeten. √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.
2. Pleasing to the smell;
fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a
sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense.
The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
Longfellow. 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.
To make his English sweet upon his tongue.
Chaucer. A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful.
Hawthorne.
4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair; as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion.
Sweet interchange
Of hill and
valley, rivers, woods, and
plains.
Milton. 5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water. Bacon.
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.
7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable; winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners.
Canst thou bind the
sweet influence of Pleiades?
Job xxxviii. 31. Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one established rule of Christian working.
M.
Arnold. &fist; Sweet is often used in the formation of self- explaining compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet- featured, sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet- toned, etc.
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,
or 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 (Zoöl.), 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) (Zoöl.) The willow warbler.
(c) (Zoöl.) 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.
Syn. -- Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious.
Hear it pronounced