as a treat
1
2.7
- idiom
:
como un regalo
- If I really want it, I can have it as a treat when I'm out at a restaurant.
Very good, but but better as a treat than a cereal.
- Very good, but but better as a treat than a cereal.
- Could you feel comfortable accepting that as a treat?
- It's just tasty bad food and I think you can legitimately have it once a week as a treat, but I wouldn't have it everyday.
Examples
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The company uses this as a treat for their employees for doing a great job; if you did a really, really great job, well, you get to tag along your whole family.
Blog text (2) -
I decided to buy a dessert as a treat for finishing my project ahead of schedule.
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Buy yourself something nice as a treat for saving all that money!
Blog text (3) -
The kids made a special meal and set it for us as a treat!
Blog text (11) -
You can give in on occasion, as a treat, but it needs to be when you decide to do so.
Blog text (3) -
Even Alex's mother would bring over chicken as a treat for Thunder.
Blog text (7) -
We’ll give her some bacon pieces from our breakfast tomorrow morning as a treat.
Blog text (14) -
But the Medjool dates make these so sweet, they kind of hold it all together and they're really nice as a treat, like with a cup of tea in the afternoon.
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Lately I've been doing a half cup of the three-berry mix from Costco, with some heavy cream and stevia as a treat.
Blog text (28) -
She brought cookies as a treat for the children after their long day at school.
How Special
1
2.7
317
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'given or done as a special gift or reward' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'treat' denotes a pleasant reward and the pattern 'as a + noun' marks the role or reason. This compositional structure is predictable and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
As a treat comes from the simple idea of giving someone a small sweet or little gift to make them happy. People would give a treat to celebrate or reward good behaviour, so doing something as a treat means doing it 'as a special gift or reward'.