treacle
part of speech
noun (treacle, uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) (UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ) A thick, sticky, dark sweet syrup made when sugar is refined; black treacle is very dark, golden syrup is a light kind. Americans call it molasses. tree →
2) Something too sweet or sentimental, like a soppy speech. tree →
sense in the lessons
Treacle is used in baking: treacle tart, gingerbread, parkin, sticky toffee pudding. In Alice in Wonderland, the Dormouse tells a story about three sisters who lived at the bottom of a treacle-well and drew treacle; Alice thinks it is nonsense. «Treacle-well» is a real old phrase for a healing spring. Phrases: «black treacle», «treacle tart», «as slow as treacle».
examples
- Harry Potter's favourite pudding is treacle tart. tree →
- Mum added a spoonful of black treacle to the gingerbread. tree →
- The three little sisters lived at the bottom of a treacle-well. tree →
- The mud was as thick as treacle. tree →
- Americans call treacle molasses. tree →
- My hands were sticky with treacle. tree →
- The Dormouse said the sisters were learning to draw treacle. tree →
- Here he was invited to take a mug of brown beer with treacle and sugar. tree →
note
Uncountable: «some treacle», not «a treacle». In the UK golden syrup and treacle are related but not the same. In the US the word is molasses. A «treacly» film is too sweet and sentimental.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «treacle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.