Sug"ar (?), n. [OE. sugre, F.
sucre (cf. It. zucchero, Sp. azúcar), fr.
Ar. sukkar, assukkar, fr. Skr.
çarkarā sugar, gravel; cf. Per. shakar.
Cf. Saccharine, Sucrose.] 1. A
sweet white (or brownish yellow) crystalline substance, of a sandy or
granular consistency, obtained by crystallizing the evaporated juice
of certain plants, as the sugar cane, sorghum, beet root, sugar maple,
etc. It is used for seasoning and preserving many kinds of food and
drink. Ordinary sugar is essentially sucrose. See the Note
below.
☞ The term sugar includes several commercial grades, as
the white or refined, granulated, loaf or
lump, and the raw brown or muscovado. In a more
general sense, it includes several distinct chemical compounds, as the
glucoses, or grape sugars (including glucose proper,
dextrose, and levulose), and the sucroses, or true sugars (as
cane sugar). All sugars are carbohydrates. See Carbohydrate.
The glucoses, or grape sugars, are ketone alcohols
of the formula C6H12O6, and they turn
the plane of polarization to the right or the left. They are produced
from the amyloses and sucroses, as by the action of heat and acids of
ferments, and are themselves decomposed by fermentation into alcohol
and carbon dioxide. The only sugar (called acrose) as yet
produced artificially belongs to this class. The sucroses, or
cane sugars, are doubled glucose anhydrides of the formula
C12H22O11. They are usually not
fermentable as such (cf. Sucrose), and they act on polarized
light.
2. By extension, anything resembling sugar in
taste or appearance; as, sugar of lead (lead acetate), a
poisonous white crystalline substance having a sweet taste.
3. Compliment or flattery used to disguise or
render acceptable something obnoxious; honeyed or soothing
words. [Colloq.]
Acorn sugar. See Quercite. --
Cane sugar, sugar made from the sugar cane;
sucrose, or an isomeric sugar. See Sucrose. --
Diabetes, or Diabetic,
sugar (Med. Chem.), a variety of sugar
(probably grape sugar or dextrose) excreted in the urine in diabetes
mellitus. -- Fruit sugar. See under
Fruit, and Fructose. -- Grape
sugar, a sirupy or white crystalline sugar (dextrose or
glucose) found as a characteristic ingredient of ripe grapes, and also
produced from many other sources. See Dextrose, and
Glucose. -- Invert sugar. See under
Invert. -- Malt sugar, a variety of
sugar isomeric with sucrose, found in malt. See Maltose. -
- Manna sugar, a substance found in manna,
resembling, but distinct from, the sugars. See Mannite. --
Milk sugar, a variety of sugar characteristic of
fresh milk, and isomeric with sucrose. See Lactose. --
Muscle sugar, a sweet white crystalline
substance isomeric with, and formerly regarded to, the glucoses. It is
found in the tissue of muscle, the heart, liver, etc. Called also
heart sugar. See Inosite. -- Pine
sugar. See Pinite. -- Starch
sugar (Com. Chem.), a variety of dextrose made by
the action of heat and acids on starch from corn, potatoes, etc.; --
called also potato sugar, corn sugar, and, inaccurately,
invert sugar. See Dextrose, and Glucose. --
Sugar barek, one who refines sugar. --
Sugar beet (Bot.), a variety of beet
(Beta vulgaris) with very large white roots, extensively grown,
esp. in Europe, for the sugar obtained from them. --
Sugar berry (Bot.), the hackberry. -
- Sugar bird (Zoöl.), any one of
several species of small South American singing birds of the genera
Cœreba, Dacnis, and allied genera belonging to the
family Cœrebidæ. They are allied to the honey
eaters. -- Sugar bush. See Sugar
orchard. -- Sugar camp, a place in or
near a sugar orchard, where maple sugar is made. -- Sugar
candian, sugar candy. [Obs.] -- Sugar
candy, sugar clarified and concreted or crystallized;
candy made from sugar. -- Sugar cane
(Bot.), a tall perennial grass (Saccharum
officinarium), with thick short-jointed stems. It has been
cultivated for ages as the principal source of sugar. --
Sugar loaf. (a) A loaf or mass
of refined sugar, usually in the form of a truncated cone.
(b) A hat shaped like a sugar loaf.
Why, do not or know you, grannam, and that sugar
loaf?
J. Webster.
-- Sugar maple (Bot.), the rock maple
(Acer saccharinum). See Maple. -- Sugar
mill, a machine for pressing out the juice of the sugar
cane, usually consisting of three or more rollers, between which the
cane is passed. -- Sugar mite.
(Zoöl.) (a) A small mite
(Tyroglyphus sacchari), often found in great numbers in
unrefined sugar. (b) The lepisma. --
Sugar of lead. See Sugar, 2, above.
-- Sugar of milk. See under Milk. --
Sugar orchard, a collection of maple trees
selected and preserved for purpose of obtaining sugar from them; --
called also, sometimes, sugar bush. [U.S.]
Bartlett. -- Sugar pine (Bot.), an
immense coniferous tree (Pinus Lambertiana) of California and
Oregon, furnishing a soft and easily worked timber. The resinous
exudation from the stumps, etc., has a sweetish taste, and has been
used as a substitute for sugar. -- Sugar
squirrel (Zoöl.), an Australian flying
phalanger (Belideus sciureus), having a long bushy tail and a
large parachute. It resembles a flying squirrel. See Illust.
under Phlanger. -- Sugar tongs,
small tongs, as of silver, used at table for taking lumps of sugar
from a sugar bowl. -- Sugar tree. (Bot.)
See Sugar maple, above.