SUGAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sugar mean? 

• SUGAR (noun)
  The noun SUGAR has 3 senses:

1. a white crystalline carbohydrate used as a sweetener and preservative

2. an essential structural component of living cells and source of energy for animals; includes simple sugars with small molecules as well as macromolecular substances; are classified according to the number of monosaccharide groups they contain

3. informal terms for money

  Familiarity information: SUGAR used as a noun is uncommon.

• SUGAR (verb)
  The verb SUGAR has 1 sense:

1. sweeten with sugar

  Familiarity information: SUGAR used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUGAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A white crystalline carbohydrate used as a sweetener and preservative

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

refined sugar; sugar

Hypernyms ("sugar" is a kind of...):

sweetener; sweetening (something added to foods to make them taste sweeter)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sugar"):

lump sugar (refined sugar molded into rectangular shapes convenient as single servings)

loaf sugar; sugar loaf; sugarloaf (a large conical loaf of concentrated refined sugar)

cane sugar (sugar from sugarcane used as sweetening agent)

granulated sugar (sugar in the form of small grains)

beet sugar (sugar from sugar beets used as sweetening agent)

corn sugar (dextrose used as sweetening agent)

brown sugar (unrefined or only partly refined sugar)

caramel; caramelized sugar (burnt sugar; used to color and flavor food)

Derivation:

sugar (sweeten with sugar)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An essential structural component of living cells and source of energy for animals; includes simple sugars with small molecules as well as macromolecular substances; are classified according to the number of monosaccharide groups they contain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

carbohydrate; saccharide; sugar

Hypernyms ("sugar" is a kind of...):

macromolecule; supermolecule (any very large complex molecule; found only in plants and animals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sugar"):

wood sugar; xylose (a sugar extracted from wood or straw; used in foods for diabetics)

jaggary; jaggery; jagghery (unrefined brown sugar made from palm sap)

polyose; polysaccharide (any of a class of carbohydrates whose molecules contain chains of monosaccharide molecules)

oligosaccharide (any of the carbohydrates that yield only a few monosaccharide molecules on complete hydrolysis)

monosaccharide; monosaccharose; simple sugar (a sugar (like sucrose or fructose) that does not hydrolyse to give other sugars; the simplest group of carbohydrates)

maple sugar (sugar made from the sap of the sugar maple tree)

invert sugar (a mixture of equal parts of glucose and fructose resulting from the hydrolysis of sucrose; found naturally in fruits; sweeter than glucose)

deoxyribose (a sugar that is a constituent of nucleic acids)

cane sugar (sucrose obtained from sugar cane)

beet sugar (sugar made from sugar beets)

ribose (a pentose sugar important as a component of ribonucleic acid)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Informal terms for money

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

boodle; bread; cabbage; clams; dinero; dough; gelt; kale; lettuce; lolly; loot; lucre; moolah; pelf; scratch; shekels; simoleons; sugar; wampum

Hypernyms ("sugar" is a kind of...):

money (the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender)

• SUGAR (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sugar    ... he / she / it sugars   
Past simple: sugared   
Past participle: sugared   
-ing form: sugaring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sweeten with sugar

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

saccharify; sugar

Context example:

sugar your tea

Hypernyms (to "sugar" is one way to...):

dulcify; dulcorate; edulcorate; sweeten (make sweeter in taste)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sugar (a white crystalline carbohydrate used as a sweetener and preservative)

 Context examples 

Another animal study suggested that artificial sweeteners may increase the ability of the intestines to absorb the blood sugar glucose.

(Drinking diet beverages during pregnancy linked to child obesity, NIH)

In type 1 and late-stage type 2 diabetes, the pancreas loses insulin-producing beta cells, increasing instability in blood sugar levels.

(Fasting-Mimicking Diet May Reverse Diabetes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

An adenine nucleotide comprised of three phosphate groups esterified to the sugar moiety, found in all living cells.

(Adenosine triphosphate, NCI Thesaurus)

A drug used to control the amount of sugar in the blood of patients with diabetes mellitus.

(Apidra, NCI Dictionary)

They are also called sugar substitutes.

(Artificial Sweetener, NCI Thesaurus)

They were after its sugar, he thought.

(Mushroom Extract Could Help Save Bees from Virus, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Inflammatory responses are not the same as the blood sugar reactions that also follow eating.

(Humans More Unique than Expected When It Comes to Digesting Fatty Meals, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Last month we had a new moon solar eclipse on December 25 that was sweet as sugar.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“If you’re eating chocolate, make sure to watch the calorie content, the fat content and the sugar content,” Su says.

(Can Chocolate Really Be Good for You?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Exercise is known to improve how the body manages blood sugar levels and thereby reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome in non-pregnant women.

(Exercise in pregnancy improves health of obese mothers by restoring their tissues, University of Cambridge)