treacle — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A syrupy byproduct of sugar refining; molasses or golden syrup.

   Usage

   • Ireland
   • UK usage
   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Didn’t you see how the cub was ashamed of the thick bread-and-butter? I dare say they’re going to have treacle if they are good.

2. Cloying sentimental speech.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   The public tributes to Griffith were over-the-top in a way his acting never was, spreading treacle from the evening newscasts to the front page of the New York Times.

3. Sweetheart (from treacle tart).

   Usage

   • Cockney
   • Countable
   • Slang
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   Listen, treacle, this is the last time I'll warn you!

4. Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Historical
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   CHEWING-BALLS, a kind of balls made of aſafœtida, liver of antimony, bay-wood, juniper-wood, and pellitory of Spain; which being dried in the ſun, and wrapped in a linen-cloth, are tied to the bit of the bridle for the horſe to chew: they create an appetite; and it is ſaid, that balls of Venice treacle may be uſed in the ſame manner with good ſucceſs.

5. Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote. Synonym of cure: an all-powerful curative for some particular affliction.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Countable
   • Figurative
   • Historical
   • Obsolete
   • Uncountable

6. Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote. Synonym of cure-all: a panacea for all human ailments.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Countable
   • Figurative
   • Historical
   • Obsolete
   • Uncountable

Verb

1. To apply treacle to a surface, so as to catch flies or moths, etc.

   Usage

   • Transitive

Noun

1. a pale cane syrup

   Synonyms

   golden syrup

   Broader terms

   syrupsirup

2. writing or music that is excessively sweet and sentimental

   Synonyms

   mushslopglop

   Broader terms

   sentimentalism