molasses

Everyday

A thick, dark, sticky syrup made when sugar is taken from sugar cane or sugar beet. tree →

In the lessons

Used in cooking (gingerbread, toffee, baked beans) and history (molasses was part of the slave trade across the Atlantic). In the USA «slow as molasses (in January)» means very slow. In the UK it is called black treacle. In Alice in Wonderland the Dormouse's three sisters live at the bottom of a treacle well.

Examples

• Grandma uses molasses in her gingerbread. tree →
• Molasses is thick and dark brown. tree →
• You're as slow as molasses this morning! tree →
• In the UK, people often say black treacle instead of molasses. tree →
• Molasses was shipped from the Caribbean to make rum. tree →
• In 1919 a molasses flood swept through Boston. tree →
• "What has it got in it?" broke in some one; "molasses, kerosene, or train-oil?" tree →

Note

Uncountable: «some molasses», not «a molasses». It ends in -es but is not plural: «Molasses is sticky.»