Meaning & Definition
noun
A thick sweet liquid made from sugar and water, often flavored, used as a topping or sweetener.
She poured maple syrup over her pancakes.
A concentrated solution of sugar in water, used in cooking, especially in making candies or sweetening beverages.
The recipe called for a syrup made from simple syrup and fresh berries.
A medicinal preparation in which a drug is dissolved in a concentrated sugar solution.
He took a spoonful of cough syrup to soothe his throat.
Any various thick fluid resembling syrup.
The chocolate sauce became syrupy as it warmed up.
Etymology
Middle English, from Old French 'sirope', from Latin 'syrupus', from Greek 'syropos', originally meaning 'to ferment'.
Common Phrases and Expressions
syrup of figs:
A medicinal syrup made of fig juice, often used as a laxative.
simple syrup:
A liquid sugar solution commonly used in cocktails and beverages.
cough syrup:
A syrup formulated for alleviating coughs.
Slang Meanings
Lean or purple drank, a recreational drug beverage made with prescription cough syrup.
He was sipping on some syrup at the party.