treacle

plural treacles

1. IrelandUKcountableuncountableA syrupy byproduct of sugar refining; molasses or golden syrup.

   Didn’t you see how the cub was ashamed of the thick bread-and-butter? I dare say they’re going to have treacle if they are good.

   1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 26, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC

2. countableuncountableCloying sentimental speech.

   The public tributes to Griffith were over-the-top in a way his acting never was, spreading treacle from the evening newscasts to the front page of the New York Times.

   2012 July 22, Frank Rich, “Mayberry R.I.P.”, in New York

3. CockneycountableslanguncountableSweetheart (from treacle tart).

   Listen, treacle, this is the last time I'll warn you!

4. countablehistoricaluncountablemedicineSynonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote.

   1 more example

   CHEWING-BALLS, a kind of balls made of aſafœtida, liver of antimony, bay-wood, juniper-wood, and pellitory of Spain; which being dried in the ſun, and wrapped in a linen-cloth, are tied to the bit of the bridle for the horſe to chew: they create an appetite; and it is ſaid, that balls of Venice treacle may be uſed in the ſame manner with good ſucceſs.

   1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., volume II, page 183

   Synonyms: theriac

   1. broadlycountablefigurativelyhistoricalobsoleteuncountablemedicineSynonym of cure: an all-powerful curative for some particular affliction.

      Synonyms: cure

   2. broadlycountablefigurativelyhistoricalobsoleteuncountablemedicineSynonym of cure-all: a panacea for all human ailments.

      Synonyms: cure-all

present singular third person treacles · participle present treacling · participle past treacled · past treacled

1. transitiveTo apply treacle to a surface, so as to catch flies or moths, etc.