swi:t adj. & n. --adj. 1 having
the pleasant taste characteristic of
sugar. 2 smelling pleasant like roses or
perfume etc.;
fragrant. 3 (of
sound etc.)
melodious or
harmonious. 4 a
not salt,
sour, or
bitter. b
fresh,
with flavour unimpaired by rottenness. c (of water) fresh
and readily drinkable. 5 (of wine) having a sweet taste (opp. DRY). 6
highly gratifying or
attractive. 7
amiable, pleasant (has a sweet nature). 8 colloq. (of a
person or thing)
pretty,
charming,
endearing. 9 (foll. by on) colloq.
fond of; in
love with. --n. 1
Brit. a
small shaped
piece of
confectionery usu.
made with sugar or sweet
chocolate. 2 Brit. a sweet
dish forming a
course of a meal. 3 a sweet
part of
something;
sweetness. 4 (in pl.) delights, gratification. 5 (esp. as a
form of address)
sweetheart etc. øshe's sweet
Austral. sl.
all is well. sweet-and-sour cooked in a
sauce containing sugar and
vinegar or
lemon etc. sweet
basil see BASIL. sweet bay =
BAY(2). sweet-brier see
BRIER(1). sweet
chestnut see CHESTNUT. sweet
cicely a white-flowered
aromatic plant, Myrrhis odorata. sweet corn 1 a kind of
maize with kernels having a
high sugar content. 2
these kernels, eaten as a
vegetable when young. sweet flag = sweet rush. sweet-gale see
GALE(2). sweet
pea any climbing plant of the
genus Lathyrus,
esp. L. odoratus with fragrant flowers in
many colours. sweet
pepper see PEPPER. sweet
potato 1 a
tropical climbing plant,
Ipomoea batatas, with sweet
tuberous roots used
for food. 2 the root of
this. sweet rocket see
ROCKET(2). sweet rush (or sedge) a kind of
sedge with a
thick creeping aromatic
rootstock used in
medicine and confectionery. sweet
sultan a sweet-scented plant, Centaurea moschata or C. suaveoleus. sweet
talk colloq.
flattery,
blandishment. sweet-talk v.tr. colloq.
flatter in
order to
persuade. sweet-tempered amiable. sweet
tooth a
liking for sweet-tasting things. sweet
violet a sweet-scented violet, Viola odorata. sweet william a plant,
Dianthus barbatus, with clusters of
vivid fragrant flowers. øøsweetish adj. sweetly adv. [OE swete f. Gmc]