sugar

Less common meanings

6. 6
   darlingnouncountable

   An affectionate name used to address a loved one.

   Good morning, sugar, did you sleep well?

   Come here, sugar, and give me a hug.

   UsageUse it without a when addressing someone: 'Good morning, sugar.'

   Similardarling, dear, babe, baby, sweetheart

7. 7
   diabetesnouncolloquialuncountable

   An informal name for diabetes, the condition marked by high blood sugar.

   Grandpa has sugar, so he passes on the pie at every family dinner.

   Ever since she found out she had sugar, Aunt Ruby carries snacks and checks her levels.

   UsageUsually have sugar. In medical writing, use diabetes.

   Similardiabetes

   Note

   Some speakers keep it apart from the medical name. In Sheila Hillier and David Kelleher's Researching Cultural Differences in Health, a man told he had "sugar" and diabetes took them as two separate illnesses. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Researching Cultural Differences in Health is a book edited by Sheila Hillier and David Kelleher. api.pageplace.de
   • The book reports a male respondent interpreting sugar and diabetes as separate illnesses after his doctor's diagnosis. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   smooth wordsnouncountable or uncountable

   Flattery or honeyed words used to disguise or soften something objectionable.

   The memo was pure sugar, written to make the cutbacks sound generous.

   Beneath all that sugar, the offer was a genuinely bad deal.

   Similarflattery

9. 9
   similar substancenoundatedcountable or uncountable

   Any substance that resembles sugar in taste or appearance, especially a chemical compound so described.

   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

   Note

   An older chemistry named sweet-tasting substances after the sweetener, using the pattern sugar of plus a source: sugar of lead, sugar of Saturn, sugar of milk. The names are dated now, and the resemblance could be dangerous. Sugar of lead, or lead acetate, is a poison that tastes sweet. Read them as historical labels: sugar of lead is no sugar at all, though sugar of milk, now called lactose, really is one. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

   • Older chemistry used sugar of lead as a name based on the compound's sweet taste. gutenberg.org
   • Sugar of Saturn is a historical chemical name for sugar of lead. en.wiktionary.org
   • Lead acetate is poisonous. m.cameochemicals.noaa.gov
   • Sugar of lead is a chemical salt, rather than a sugar. en.wikipedia.org
   • Sugar of milk is lactose and is a sugar. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    hair removalverbtransitive or intransitive

    To remove unwanted hair by spreading on and pulling off a paste made from sugar, water, and lemon juice.

    The esthetician sugared her upper lip in a few quick motions.

    They prefer to sugar rather than shave, since the results last longer.

11. 11
    mild swearinterjection

    A mild exclamation used in place of a coarse swear word to express annoyance or dismay.

    Like "fudge" or "shoot": a stand-in for a word you'd rather not say.

    Sugar! I left the oven on all afternoon.

    Sugar, that's the third time I've missed the bus today.

    UsageOften used alone (Sugar!) or in Oh, sugar!

    Similarshoot, drat, darn, blast

    Note

    A minced oath that starts out like the swear word it replaces and then swerves into the pantry. In Melinda Henneberger's If They Only Listened to Us (2007), a nun is so mild that this is what she shouts when annoyed. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Sugar is a minced oath replacing shit. en.wiktionary.org
    • Melinda Henneberger wrote If They Only Listened to Us. simonandschuster.com
    • The book describes a nun who shouts “Oh, sugar!” when annoyed. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    maple syrupverbdialectalCanadaUStransitive or intransitive

    In making maple sugar, to finish boiling the syrup down until it is thick enough to crystallize into granular sugar, usually expressed as 'sugar off.'

    The sugarmakers worked through the night to sugar off the last batch of syrup.

    When the syrup sheets off the spoon, it is nearly time to sugar off.

    UsageAlmost always with off: sugar off a batch; the work is sugaring off.

    Note

    In Quebec and Ontario the sugaring-off season is a social occasion. The old test for when to stop appears in The Ohio Cultivator of 1851: drop some syrup into cold water, and when it breaks like glass, it is ready. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The Ohio Cultivator of 1851 describes testing syrup in cold water until it breaks like glass. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    flatterverbtransitive

    To compliment or flatter a person with pleasing words.

    Similarflatter, compliment

14. 14
    kissesnounslanguncountable

    Affection shown through kisses or kissing.

    He leaned in for some sugar before heading out the door.

    Give me a little sugar, she said, tapping her cheek.

    UsageComes as some sugar or a little sugar: give me some sugar.

    Note

    Slang that turns kisses into something you can ask for by the spoonful. The set phrase is give me some sugar, as in Bruce Campbell's "Gimme some sugar, baby" in Army of Darkness (1992). Unlike the pet name, it names what is given, not the person. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Army of Darkness first premiered in 1992. en.wikipedia.org
    • The film contains the quoted line, spoken by Ash. en.wikiquote.org
    • Bruce Campbell plays Ash, the character delivering the line. en.wikiquote.org
15. 15
    heroinnounslangUSuncountable

    Heroin, especially as referred to in street slang.

    Similarheroin, smack, dope, junk, horse

16. 16
    moneynoundatedUSuncountable

    Money, especially cash, in dated American slang.

    Back then a man with plenty of sugar could buy a whole block.

    She tucked her sugar away for a rainy day.

    Similardough, bread, cash, money

17. 17
    feminine mannernoundialectalSouthernUSuncountable

    An effeminate quality in a man, often taken to imply that he is homosexual.

    Back home, folks would lower their voices and say a boy like that had some sugar in his tank.

    In the small Georgia town where he grew up, any boy who liked to dance was said to have sugar in his tank.

    UsageUsually in sugar in his tank or a little sugar in him. It mocks, so it is best kept to quotation.

    Note

    Southern US slang that works by insinuation. A man is said to have a little sugar in him, or, in a jeer aimed at a player's mannerisms, sugar in his pants. The image seems to play on sweetness as feminine, as in "sugar and spice." Because it hints at a man's sexuality instead of saying anything outright, it reads as mockery. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The slang sense is associated chiefly with the southern United States. en.wiktionary.org
    • The expression about sugar in a player's pants is documented as teasing prompted by his mannerisms. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    nouncolloquialuncountable

    A shortened form of blood sugar: the level of glucose in a person's blood, particularly as tested by someone who has diabetes.

    Her sugar dropped halfway through the hike, so she stopped to eat a granola bar.

    The nurse asked whether his sugar had been running high since he started the new medication.

    UsageOften used with a possessive: her sugar dropped, check your sugar. Use blood sugar in formal writing for clarity.

    Similarglucose

    Note

    It behaves like a reading, not a substance: someone's sugar runs high, drops, or gets checked. That grammar also separates it from sugar as a name for diabetes, which names the condition rather than a level.

19. 19
    noun

    Features of a programming language that let code be written more concisely or read more easily, without adding any capability the language lacked.
20. 20
    verb

    To rewrite source code using syntactic sugar, so that it reads more concisely while behaving exactly as it did before.

    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”
21. 21
    verb

    To apply a sugary mixture to tree trunks or plants in order to attract and trap moths.