adj. & n.
adj. 1 having the pleasant taste characteristic of sugar. 2 smelling pleasant like roses or perfume etc.; fragrant. 3 (of sound etc.) melodious or harmonious. 4 a not salt, sour, or bitter. b fresh, with flavour unimpaired by rottenness. c (of water) fresh and readily drinkable. 5 (of wine) having a sweet taste (opp. DRY). 6 highly gratifying or attractive. 7 amiable, pleasant (has a sweet nature). 8 colloq. (of a person or thing) pretty, charming, endearing. 9 (foll. by on) colloq. fond of; in love with.
n. 1 Brit. a small shaped piece of confectionery usu. made with sugar or sweet chocolate. 2 Brit. a sweet dish forming a course of a meal. 3 a sweet part of something; sweetness. 4 (in pl.) delights, gratification. 5 (esp. as a form of address) sweetheart etc. she's sweet Austral. sl. all is well. sweet-and-sour cooked in a sauce containing sugar and vinegar or lemon etc. sweet basil see BASIL. sweet bay = BAY(2). sweet-brier see BRIER(1). sweet chestnut see CHESTNUT. sweet cicely a white-flowered aromatic plant, Myrrhis odorata. sweet corn 1 a kind of maize with kernels having a high sugar content. 2 these kernels, eaten as a vegetable when young. sweet flag = sweet rush. sweet-gale see GALE(2). sweet pea any climbing plant of the genus Lathyrus, esp. L. odoratus with fragrant flowers in many colours. sweet pepper see PEPPER. sweet potato 1 a tropical climbing plant, Ipomoea batatas, with sweet tuberous roots used for food. 2 the root of this. sweet rocket see ROCKET(2). sweet rush (or sedge) a kind of sedge with a thick creeping aromatic rootstock used in medicine and confectionery. sweet sultan a sweet-scented plant, Centaurea moschata or c. suaveoleus. sweet talk colloq. flattery, blandishment. sweet-talk v.tr. colloq. flatter in order to persuade. sweet-tempered amiable. sweet tooth a liking for sweet-tasting things. sweet violet a sweet-scented violet, Viola odorata. sweet william a plant, Dianthus barbatus, with clusters of vivid fragrant flowers. sweetish adj. sweetly adv.
[ OE swete f. Gmc ]