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# treacle

«treacle» in Mova's school dictionary: **A thick, sticky, dark sweet syrup made when sugar is…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (treacle, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ) A thick, sticky, dark sweet syrup made when sugar is refined; black treacle is very dark, golden syrup is a light kind. Americans call it molasses. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#m1)

2) Something too sweet or sentimental, like a soppy speech. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

Treacle is used in baking: treacle tart, gingerbread, parkin, sticky toffee pudding. In Alice in Wonderland, the Dormouse tells a story about three sisters who lived at the bottom of a treacle-well and drew treacle; Alice thinks it is nonsense. «Treacle-well» is a real old phrase for a healing spring. Phrases: «black treacle», «treacle tart», «as slow as treacle».

### examples

- Harry Potter's favourite pudding is treacle tart. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#x1)
- Mum added a spoonful of black treacle to the gingerbread. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#x2)
- The three little sisters lived at the bottom of a treacle-well. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#x3)
- The mud was as thick as treacle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#x4)
- Americans call treacle molasses. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#x5)
- My hands were sticky with treacle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#x6)
- The Dormouse said the sisters were learning to draw treacle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#x7)
- Here he was invited to take a mug of brown beer with treacle and sugar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/#x8)

### note

Uncountable: «some treacle», not «a treacle». In the UK golden syrup and treacle are related but not the same. In the US the word is molasses. A «treacly» film is too sweet and sentimental.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «treacle» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/treacle/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.