Treacle

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Treacle \Trea"cle\ (tr[=e]"k'l), n. [OE. triacle a sovereign
     remedy, theriac, OF. triacle, F. th['e]riaque (cf. Pr.
     triacla, tiriaca, Sp. & It. triaca, teriaca), L. theriaca an
     antidote against the bite of poisonous animals, Gr. ?, fr. ?
     of wild or venomous beasts, fr. qhri`on a beast, a wild
     beast, dim. of qh`r a beast. Cf. {Theriac}.]


     1. (Old Med.) A remedy against poison. See {Theriac}, 1.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We kill the viper, and make treacle of him. --Jer.
                                                    Taylor.
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     2. A sovereign remedy; a cure. [Obs.]
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              Christ which is to every harm treacle. --Chaucer.
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     3. Molasses; sometimes, specifically, the molasses which
        drains from the sugar-refining molds, and which is also
        called {sugarhouse molasses}.
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     Note: In the United States molasses is the common name; in
           England, treacle.
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     4. A saccharine fluid, consisting of the inspissated juices
        or decoctions of certain vegetables, as the sap of the
        birch, sycamore, and the like.
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     {Treacle mustard} (Bot.), a name given to several species of
        the cruciferous genus {Erysimum}, especially the {Erysimum
        cheiranthoides}, which was formerly used as an ingredient
        in Venice treacle, or theriac.
  
     {Treacle water}, a compound cordial prepared in different
        ways from a variety of ingredients, as hartshorn, roots of
        various plants, flowers, juices of plants, wines, etc.,
        distilled or digested with Venice treacle. It was formerly
        regarded as a medicine of great virtue. --Nares.
  
     {Venice treacle}. (Old Med.) Same as {Theriac}, 1.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  treacle
       n 1: a pale cane syrup [syn: {golden syrup}]
       2: an expression that is excessively sweet and sentimental
          [syn: {mush}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  71 Moby Thesaurus words for "treacle":
     albumen, ambrosia, artificial sweetener, batter, blackstrap,
     bonnyclabber, butter, calcium cyclamate, cane syrup, clabber,
     clover honey, comb honey, corn syrup, cornstarch, cream, curd,
     cyclamates, dough, edulcoration, egg white, gaum, gel, gelatin,
     glair, glop, glue, gluten, goo, gook, goop, gruel, gumbo, gunk,
     honey, honeycomb, honeydew, honeypot, jam, jell, jelly, loblolly,
     maple syrup, molasses, mucilage, mucus, nectar, pap, paste,
     porridge, pudding, pulp, puree, putty, rob, saccharification,
     saccharin, semifluid, semiliquid, size, sodium cyclamate, sorghum,
     soup, starch, sticky mess, sugar, sugar-making, sugaring off,
     sweetener, sweetening, sweets, syrup