Sweet bay
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Laurel \Lau"rel\, n. [OE. lorel, laurer, lorer, OF. lorier,
laurier, F. laurier, (assumed) LL. Laurarius, fr. L. laurus.]
1. (Bot.) An evergreen shrub, of the genus {Laurus} ({Laurus
nobilis}), having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape,
with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their
axils; -- called also {sweet bay}.
Note: The fruit is a purple berry. It is found about the
Mediterranean, and was early used by the ancient Greeks
to crown the victor in the games of Apollo. At a later
period, academic honors were indicated by a crown of
laurel, with the fruit. The leaves and tree yield an
aromatic oil, used to flavor the bay water of commerce.
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Note: The name is extended to other plants which in some
respect resemble the true laurel. See Phrases, below.
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2. A crown of laurel; hence, honor; distinction; fame; --
especially in the plural; as, to win laurels.
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3. An English gold coin made in 1619, and so called because
the king's head on it was crowned with laurel.
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{Laurel water}, water distilled from the fresh leaves of the
cherry laurel, and containing prussic acid and other
products carried over in the process.
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{American laurel}, or {Mountain laurel}, {Kalmia latifolia};
called also {calico bush}. See under {Mountain}.
{California laurel}, {Umbellularia Californica}.
{Cherry laurel} (in England called {laurel}). See under
{Cherry}.
{Great laurel}, the rosebay ({Rhododendron maximum}).
{Ground laurel}, trailing arbutus.
{New Zealand laurel}, the {Laurelia Nov[ae] Zelandi[ae]}.
{Portugal laurel}, the {Prunus Lusitanica}.
{Rose laurel}, the oleander. See {Oleander}.
{Sheep laurel}, a poisonous shrub, {Kalmia angustifolia},
smaller than the mountain laurel, and with smaller and
redder flowers.
{Spurge laurel}, {Daphne Laureola}.
{West Indian laurel}, {Prunus occidentalis}.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sweet \Sweet\, a. [Compar. {Sweeter}; superl. {Sweetest}.] [OE.
swete, swote, sote, AS. sw[=e]te; akin to OFries. sw[=e]te,
OS. sw[=o]ti, D. zoet, G. s["u]ss, OHG. suozi, Icel. saetr,
soetr, Sw. s["o]t, Dan. s["o]d, Goth. suts, L. suavis, for
suadvis, Gr. ?, Skr. sv[=a]du sweet, svad, sv[=a]d, to
sweeten. [root]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.
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2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a
sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense.
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The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
--Longfellow.
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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.
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To make his English sweet upon his tongue.
--Chaucer.
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A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful. --Hawthorne.
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4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair;
as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion.
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Sweet interchange
Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.
--Milton.
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5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water. --Bacon.
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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.
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7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable;
winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners.
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Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades?
--Job xxxviii.
31.
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Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one
established rule of Christian working. --M. Arnold.
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Note: Sweet is often used in the formation of self-explaining
compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet-featured,
sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet-toned, etc.
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{Sweet alyssum}. (Bot.) See {Alyssum}.
{Sweet apple}. (Bot.)
(a) Any apple of sweet flavor.
(b) See {Sweet-sop}.
{Sweet bay}. (Bot.)
(a) The laurel ({Laurus nobilis}).
(b) Swamp sassafras.
{Sweet calabash} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Passiflora}
({Passiflora 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} ({Myrrhis 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
asplenifolia} syn. {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} (Zool.), 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 ({Centaurea
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) (Zool.) The willow warbler.
(c) (Zool.) 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.
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Syn: Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Swamp \Swamp\, n. [Cf. AS. swam a fungus, OD. swam a sponge, D.
zwam a fungus, G. schwamm a sponge, Icel. sv["o]ppr, Dan. &
Sw. swamp, Goth. swamms, Gr. somfo`s porous, spongy.]
Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but
not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the
seashore.
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Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern.
--Tennyson.
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A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing
trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only
herbage, plants, and mosses. --Farming
Encyc. (E.
Edwards,
Words).
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{Swamp blackbird}. (Zool.) See {Redwing}
(b) .
{Swamp cabbage} (Bot.), skunk cabbage.
{Swamp deer} (Zool.), an Asiatic deer ({Rucervus Duvaucelli})
of India.
{Swamp hen}. (Zool.)
(a) An Australian azure-breasted bird ({Porphyrio bellus});
-- called also {goollema}.
(b) An Australian water crake, or rail ({Porzana Tabuensis});
-- called also {little swamp hen}.
(c) The European purple gallinule.
{Swamp honeysuckle} (Bot.), an American shrub ({Azalea
viscosa} syn. {Rhododendron viscosa} or {Rhododendron
viscosum}) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers
of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called
also {swamp pink} and {white swamp honeysuckle}.
{Swamp hook}, a hook and chain used by lumbermen in handling
logs. Cf. {Cant hook}.
{Swamp itch}. (Med.) See {Prairie itch}, under {Prairie}.
{Swamp laurel} (Bot.), a shrub ({Kalmia glauca}) having small
leaves with the lower surface glaucous.
{Swamp maple} (Bot.), red maple. See {Maple}.
{Swamp oak} (Bot.), a name given to several kinds of oak
which grow in swampy places, as swamp Spanish oak
({Quercus palustris}), swamp white oak ({Quercus
bicolor}), swamp post oak ({Quercus lyrata}).
{Swamp ore} (Min.), bog ore; limonite.
{Swamp partridge} (Zool.), any one of several Australian game
birds of the genera {Synoicus} and {Excalfatoria}, allied
to the European partridges.
{Swamp robin} (Zool.), the chewink.
{Swamp sassafras} (Bot.), a small North American tree of the
genus {Magnolia} ({Magnolia glauca}) with aromatic leaves
and fragrant creamy-white blossoms; -- called also {sweet
bay}.
{Swamp sparrow} (Zool.), a common North American sparrow
({Melospiza Georgiana}, or {Melospiza palustris}), closely
resembling the song sparrow. It lives in low, swampy
places.
{Swamp willow}. (Bot.) See {Pussy willow}, under {Pussy}.
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