Laurel \Lau"rel\, n. [OE. lorel, laurer, lorer, OF. lorier,
   laurier, F. laurier, (assumed) LL. Laurarius, fr. L. laurus.]
   1. (Bot.) An evergreen shrub, of the genus {Laurus} ({Laurus  nobilis}), having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape,
      with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their
      axils; -- called also {sweet bay}.

   Note: The fruit is a purple berry. It is found about the
         Mediterranean, and was early used by the ancient Greeks
         to crown the victor in the games of Apollo. At a later
         period, academic honors were indicated by a crown of
         laurel, with the fruit. The leaves and tree yield an
         aromatic oil, used to flavor the bay water of commerce.
         
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   Note: The name is extended to other plants which in some
         respect resemble the true laurel. See Phrases, below.
         
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   2. A crown of laurel; hence, honor; distinction; fame; --
      especially in the plural; as, to win laurels.
      
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   3. An English gold coin made in 1619, and so called because
      the king's head on it was crowned with laurel.
      
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   {Laurel water}, water distilled from the fresh leaves of the
      cherry laurel, and containing prussic acid and other
      products carried over in the process.
      
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   {American laurel}, or {Mountain laurel}, {Kalmia latifolia};
      called also {calico bush}. See under {Mountain}.

   {California laurel}, {Umbellularia Californica}.

   {Cherry laurel} (in England called {laurel}). See under
      {Cherry}.

   {Great laurel}, the rosebay ({Rhododendron maximum}).

   {Ground laurel}, trailing arbutus.

   {New Zealand laurel}, the {Laurelia Novae Zelandiae}.

   {Portugal laurel}, the {Prunus Lusitanica}.

   {Rose laurel}, the oleander. See {Oleander}.

   {Sheep laurel}, a poisonous shrub, {Kalmia angustifolia},
      smaller than the mountain laurel, and with smaller and
      redder flowers.

   {Spurge laurel}, {Daphne Laureola}.

   {West Indian laurel}, {Prunus occidentalis}.
      
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Sweet \Sweet\, a. [Compar. {Sweeter}; superl. {Sweetest}.] [OE.
   swete, swote, sote, AS. sw[=e]te; akin to OFries. sw[=e]te,
   OS. sw[=o]ti, D. zoet, G. s["u]ss, OHG. suozi, Icel. saetr,
   soetr, Sw. s["o]t, Dan. s["o]d, Goth. suts, L. suavis, for
   suadvis, Gr. ?, Skr. sv[=a]du sweet, svad, sv[=a]d, to
   sweeten. [root]175. Cf. {Assuage}, {Suave}, {Suasion}.]
   1. Having an agreeable taste or flavor such as that of sugar;
      saccharine; -- opposed to sour and bitter; as, a sweet
      beverage; sweet fruits; sweet oranges.
      
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   2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a
      sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense.
      
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            The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
                                                  --Longfellow.
      
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   3. Pleasing to the ear; soft; melodious; harmonious; as, the
      sweet notes of a flute or an organ; sweet music; a sweet
      voice; a sweet singer.
      
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            To make his English sweet upon his tongue.
                                                  --Chaucer.
      
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            A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful. --Hawthorne.
      
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   4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair;
      as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion.
      
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            Sweet interchange
            Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.
                                                  --Milton.
      
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   5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water. --Bacon.
      
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   6. Not changed from a sound or wholesome state. Specifically:
      (a) Not sour; as, sweet milk or bread.
      (b) Not state; not putrescent or putrid; not rancid; as,
          sweet butter; sweet meat or fish.
          
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   7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable;
      winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners.
      
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            Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades?
                                                  --Job xxxviii.
                                                  31.
      
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            Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one
            established rule of Christian working. --M. Arnold.
      
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   Note: Sweet is often used in the formation of self-explaining
         compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet-featured,
         sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet-toned, etc.
         
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   {Sweet alyssum}. (Bot.) See {Alyssum}.

   {Sweet apple}. (Bot.)
      (a) Any apple of sweet flavor.
      (b) See {Sweet-sop}.

   {Sweet bay}. (Bot.)
      (a) The laurel ({Laurus nobilis}).
      (b) Swamp sassafras.

   {Sweet calabash} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Passiflora}
      ({Passiflora maliformis}) growing in the West Indies, and
      producing a roundish, edible fruit, the size of an apple.
      

   {Sweet cicely}. (Bot.)
      (a) Either of the North American plants of the
          umbelliferous genus {Osmorrhiza} having aromatic roots
          and seeds, and white flowers. --Gray.
      (b) A plant of the genus {Myrrhis} ({Myrrhis odorata})
          growing in England.

   {Sweet calamus}, or {Sweet cane}. (Bot.) Same as {Sweet  flag}, below.

   {Sweet Cistus} (Bot.), an evergreen shrub ({Cistus Ladanum})
      from which the gum ladanum is obtained.

   {Sweet clover}. (Bot.) See {Melilot}.

   {Sweet coltsfoot} (Bot.), a kind of butterbur ({Petasites  sagittata}) found in Western North America.

   {Sweet corn} (Bot.), a variety of the maize of a sweet taste.
      See the Note under {Corn}.

   {Sweet fern} (Bot.), a small North American shrub ({Comptonia  asplenifolia} syn. {Myrica asplenifolia}) having
      sweet-scented or aromatic leaves resembling fern leaves.
      

   {Sweet flag} (Bot.), an endogenous plant ({Acorus Calamus})
      having long flaglike leaves and a rootstock of a pungent
      aromatic taste. It is found in wet places in Europe and
      America. See {Calamus}, 2.

   {Sweet gale} (Bot.), a shrub ({Myrica Gale}) having bitter
      fragrant leaves; -- also called {sweet willow}, and {Dutch  myrtle}. See 5th {Gale}.

   {Sweet grass} (Bot.), holy, or Seneca, grass.

   {Sweet gum} (Bot.), an American tree ({Liquidambar  styraciflua}). See {Liquidambar}.

   {Sweet herbs}, fragrant herbs cultivated for culinary
      purposes.

   {Sweet John} (Bot.), a variety of the sweet William.

   {Sweet leaf} (Bot.), horse sugar. See under {Horse}.

   {Sweet marjoram}. (Bot.) See {Marjoram}.

   {Sweet marten} (Zool.), the pine marten.

   {Sweet maudlin} (Bot.), a composite plant ({Achillea  Ageratum}) allied to milfoil.

   {Sweet oil}, olive oil.

   {Sweet pea}. (Bot.) See under {Pea}.

   {Sweet potato}. (Bot.) See under {Potato}.

   {Sweet rush} (Bot.), sweet flag.

   {Sweet spirits of niter} (Med. Chem.) See {Spirit of nitrous  ether}, under {Spirit}.

   {Sweet sultan} (Bot.), an annual composite plant ({Centaurea  moschata}), also, the yellow-flowered ({Centaurea  odorata}); -- called also {sultan flower}.

   {Sweet tooth}, an especial fondness for sweet things or for
      sweetmeats. [Colloq.]

   {Sweet William}.
      (a) (Bot.) A species of pink ({Dianthus barbatus}) of many
          varieties.
      (b) (Zool.) The willow warbler.
      (c) (Zool.) The European goldfinch; -- called also {sweet  Billy}. [Prov. Eng.]

   {Sweet willow} (Bot.), sweet gale.

   {Sweet wine}. See {Dry wine}, under {Dry}.

   {To be sweet on}, to have a particular fondness for, or
      special interest in, as a young man for a young woman.
      [Colloq.] --Thackeray.
      
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   Syn: Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious.
        
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Swamp \Swamp\, n. [Cf. AS. swam a fungus, OD. swam a sponge, D.
   zwam a fungus, G. schwamm a sponge, Icel. sv["o]ppr, Dan. &
   Sw. swamp, Goth. swamms, Gr. somfo`s porous, spongy.]
   Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but
   not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the
   seashore.
   
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         Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern.
                                                  --Tennyson.
   
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         A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing
         trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only
         herbage, plants, and mosses.             --Farming
                                                  Encyc. (E.
                                                  Edwards,
                                                  Words).
   
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   {Swamp blackbird}. (Zool.) See {Redwing}
   (b) .

   {Swamp cabbage} (Bot.), skunk cabbage.

   {Swamp deer} (Zool.), an Asiatic deer ({Rucervus Duvaucelli})
      of India.

   {Swamp hen}. (Zool.)
   (a) An Australian azure-breasted bird ({Porphyrio bellus});
       -- called also {goollema}.
   (b) An Australian water crake, or rail ({Porzana Tabuensis});
       -- called also {little swamp hen}.
   (c) The European purple gallinule.

   {Swamp honeysuckle} (Bot.), an American shrub ({Azalea  viscosa} syn. {Rhododendron viscosa} or {Rhododendron  viscosum}) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers
      of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called
      also {swamp pink} and {white swamp honeysuckle}.

   {Swamp hook}, a hook and chain used by lumbermen in handling
      logs. Cf. {Cant hook}.

   {Swamp itch}. (Med.) See {Prairie itch}, under {Prairie}.

   {Swamp laurel} (Bot.), a shrub ({Kalmia glauca}) having small
      leaves with the lower surface glaucous.

   {Swamp maple} (Bot.), red maple. See {Maple}.

   {Swamp oak} (Bot.), a name given to several kinds of oak
      which grow in swampy places, as swamp Spanish oak
      ({Quercus palustris}), swamp white oak ({Quercus  bicolor}), swamp post oak ({Quercus lyrata}).

   {Swamp ore} (Min.), bog ore; limonite.

   {Swamp partridge} (Zool.), any one of several Australian game
      birds of the genera {Synoicus} and {Excalfatoria}, allied
      to the European partridges.

   {Swamp robin} (Zool.), the chewink.

   {Swamp sassafras} (Bot.), a small North American tree of the
      genus {Magnolia} ({Magnolia glauca}) with aromatic leaves
      and fragrant creamy-white blossoms; -- called also {sweet  bay}.

   {Swamp sparrow} (Zool.), a common North American sparrow
      ({Melospiza Georgiana}, or {Melospiza palustris}), closely
      resembling the song sparrow. It lives in low, swampy
      places.

   {Swamp willow}. (Bot.) See {Pussy willow}, under {Pussy}.
      
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