I. sug ‧ ar 1 S2 W3 /ˈʃʊɡə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: çucre , from Medieval Latin zuccarum , from Arabic sukkar , from Persian shakar , from Sanskrit sarkara ]
1 . [uncountable] a sweet white or brown substance that is obtained from plants and used to make food and drinks sweet:
Do you take sugar in your coffee?
2 . [countable] British English the amount of sugar that a small spoon can hold:
How many sugars do you want in your tea?
3 . [countable] technical one of several sweet substances formed in plants
4 . spoken used to address someone you like very much
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ a teaspoon/spoonful of sugar
The drink contains seven teaspoons of sugar per can.
▪ a lump of sugar ( also a sugar lump ) (=a small block of sugar)
He put three lumps of sugar in his coffee.
■ verbs
▪ take sugar (=have sugar in your tea or coffee)
‘Do you take sugar?’ ‘No, thank you.’
▪ sprinkle something with sugar
Sprinkle the cake with sugar.
▪ sugar dissolves (=becomes part of a liquid)
Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
II. sugar 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
to add sugar or cover something with sugar SYN sweeten :
Did you sugar my coffee?
—sugared adjective :
sugared almonds