sweeten Hear it!

sweeten Definition

sweeten (swēt′'n)

transitive verb

  1. to make sweet with or as with sugar
  2. to make pleasant or agreeable, as to the sense of smell
  3. to counteract the acidic condition of (the soil, the stomach, etc.)
    1. to mollify; appease
    2. Now Rare to alleviate; ease
  5. Business, Informal
    1. to increase the value of (collateral for a loan) by pledging additional securities
    2. to increase the value of (an offer) in order to induce acceptance, promote sales, etc.
  6. Poker, Slang to add further stakes to (a pot) before opening

intransitive verb

to become sweet

sweeten Synonyms

sweeten

v.

  1. To make sweet

    sugar, add sugar, add sweetening, make toothsome, give a sweet flavor to, mull; see also flavor.

    Antonyms sour*, make sour, make bitter.

  2. To make fresh

    purify, freshen, remove salt from, fumigate, disinfect, cleanse, revive, renew, ventilate.

sweeten Usage Examples

Followed by a transitive particle

  • up: Kenneth Clarke is gambling on the old formula of tax cuts in the budget in an attempt to sweeten up the electorate.

Object

  • pill: In fact, the author has taken further measures to sweeten the pill.
  • breath: The pods are also chewed to aid in digestion and to sweeten the breath; a habit started with by the Moghuls.
  • pot: But what really sweetens the pot is knowing the honey in my tea is at work even if I'm not.
  • tea: Poor families are now forced to feed their infants sweetened tea instead of milk.
  • milk: For the first few days give your baby grain milk sweetened with rice syrup or barley malt.
  • drink: In the first exercise trial, both groups were given a sweetened placebo drink to consume during the session.

Preposition: with

  • honey: Can be drunk hot or cold, plain or sweetened with honey.
  • sugar: We were drinking coffee sweetened with sugar we had brought.
  • juice: Alphabet biscuits letter shaped biscuits sweetened only with grape juice.
  • syrup: For the first few days give your baby grain milk sweetened with rice syrup or barley malt.
  • sweetener: Serve " upside down " with custard made with skimmed milk and sweetened with artificial sweetener.
  • fruit: They are flavored with oat, brome and orchard grasses and only sweetened with organic fruits.

Infinitive complement

  • taste: Allow to cool add honey to sweeten to taste.

Modifying Another Word

  • artificially: Even artificially sweetened drinks still cause you to crave sweets - get off them.
  • naturally: They are naturally sweetened with no artificial flavorings or colors.
  • only: Alphabet biscuits letter shaped biscuits sweetened only with grape juice.
  • slightly: Sunday Post Quiz Answers, August 5, 2001 1 You'd eat it, it's a slightly sweetened bun.
  • then: Kill the yeast with some sodium or potassium met, then sweeten to taste.
  • usually: Diabetic chocolates are usually sweetened with a type of sugar called a ' polyol ' .