blackstrap

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noun

The dark, viscous molasses remaining after maximum extraction of sugar from raw sugar cane, used in manufacturing and cattle feed.

RareScrabble 20

Meanings

nounblackstrap (usually uncountable, plural blackstraps)

plural blackstraps

  1. uncountableusuallyThe dark, viscous molasses remaining after maximum extraction of sugar from raw sugar cane, used in manufacturing and cattle feed.

    Smoked over cherry and mesquite wood, and dried in a convection oven, it gets its flavors from organic blackstrap molasses, Jim Beam bourbon, and salt and pepper.

    2007 July 25, David Hochman, “For Epicures, a New Take on Jerky”, in New York Times
  2. obsoleteuncountableusuallyA mixture of spirituous liquor (usually rum) and molasses.

    No blackstrap to-night; switchel, or ginger pop.

    1845, Sylvester Judd, Margaret: A Tale of the Real and the Ideal, Blight and Bloom; Including Sketches of a Place Not Before Described, Called Mons Christi
  3. obsoleteslanguncountableusuallynauticalBad port wine; any common wine of the Mediterranean.

Origin

  1. Dutchstroop“syrup”
  2. Englishblackstrap

From black + strap? Possible connection with Dutch stroop (“syrup”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

blackstrap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackstrap

MLA

“blackstrap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackstrap. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blackstrap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blackstrap.

Source: blackstrap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.