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Glite Dictionary
barley-sugar

barley-sugar

6.9
A hard clear candy often twisted into a stick
  • noun
  • /ˈbɑrli ˈʃʌɡər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : caramelo de cebada
  • The shop displayed a colorful jar filled with barley-sugar, attracting the attention of passing children.
  • a stick of barley sugar

Examples

  • "Do you remember the barley sugars, Mum?" I say, "the day we went up Tiveragh?"

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Sarah opened her bag and took out two sticks of barley-sugar to share with her friends.

  • Sit down, have some water and some barley sugar.

    Lucky Miles (2007)

  • Take that bit of barley sugar away.

    A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

  • At this moment, I want to be back at the edges with you, sucking a barley sugar...

    Fiction book (1997)

  • "Good to see you on the road again," Sarah smiled, putting her hand into her pocket and drawing out two sticks of barley sugar.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Barley sugar.

    Sherlock Holmes (2010)

  • "They will," Rosie told her reassuringly, sucking her stick of barley sugar.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The two boys forged ahead, and Nora cracked her stick of barley sugar in half and gave it to Rosie, who looked at her with concern.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • As a child, I loved to unwrap a stick of barley-sugar and enjoy its sweet taste during long car rides.

Synonyms

barley candy
vsbarley-sugar
  • US
7.4

A hard clear sweet made from melted sugar and often shaped like animals

keeps the original grain water recipe and often twisted translucent form

How Hard

jawbreaker
  • US
4 4.4
barley-sugar
  • Archaic
6.9
hard candy
  • US
7 1.0
sugar candy
1 1.0
toffee
15 1.9

Surface Forms

barley-sugar singular
barley-sugars plural

Morphology

barley-sugar = barley + sugar (semi-transparent) = barley + sugar

The components 'barley' and 'sugar' are obvious, but the conventionalized meaning 'a specific hard candy' is a product name and not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Barley-sugar comes from an old recipe where cooks boiled sugar with water made from barley, the grain. So the hard, twisted sweet was named for the 'barley water' used to make it, which explains the candy's name today.