Lau·rel n.
 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.
 Note: ☞ The name is extended to other plants which in some respect resemble the true laurel. See Phrases, below.
 2. A crown of laurel; hence, honor; distinction; fame; -- especially in the plural; as, to win laurels.
 3. An English gold coin made in 1619, and so called because the king's head on it was crowned with laurel.
 Laurel water, water distilled from the fresh leaves of the cherry laurel, and containing prussic acid and other products carried over in the process.
 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 Novæ Zelandiæ.
 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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 Swamp n.  Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the seashore.
    Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern.   --Tennyson.
    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).
 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.


 Sweet a. [Compar. Sweeter superl. Sweetest.]
 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.
 2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense.
    The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.   --Longfellow.
 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.
    To make his English sweet upon his tongue.   --Chaucer.
    A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful.   --Hawthorne.
 4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair; as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion.
 Sweet interchange
 Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.   --Milton.
 5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water.
 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.
 7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable; winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners.
    Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades?   --Job xxxviii. 31.
    Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one established rule of Christian working.   --M. Arnold.
 Note: ☞ Sweet is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet-featured, sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet-toned, etc.
 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.
 Syn: -- Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious.


 sweet bay
      n : shrub or small tree having rather small fragrant white
          flowers; abundant in southeastern United States [syn: {swamp
          bay, swamp laurel, Magnolia virginiana]