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1British A thick, sticky dark syrup made from partly refined sugar; molasses.
‘Tar clogs your lungs like thick treacle, and a 20-a-day smoker inhales a full cup of tar in a year.’
‘Well, a rum baba and a treacle tart were atypically heavy.’
‘Mix together the egg, 125g muscovado sugar, treacle, buttermilk and remaining butter until smooth.’
‘The curd is perfectly complemented by the thick warm brown treacle topping that titillates the palate of dessert lovers anywhere.’
‘To this townie's feet it's like walking through treacle.’
‘A treacle tart is my first choice, then I can eat any leftover at breakfast before everyone else gets up, but a crumbly upside tart would be good, perhaps with figs or apples underneath.’
‘Make a well in the middle, add the oil, treacle and enough milk to combine and make a soft dough.’
‘An innovation confined mainly to Britain was treacle or molasses from sugar cane.’
‘Don't just use white sugar - adding some muscovado and even black treacle will boost the flavour.’
‘Traditional bonfire treats including black peas, baked potatoes, parkin, toffee apples and treacle toffee were also on offer.’
‘More of this and the ice cream will make way for sponge pudding and treacle and my autumn diet will be fully established.’
‘Time to head downstairs, but not before I've warned them that if they don't eat their main course, they'll miss out on the treacle tart.’
‘We're using a Wiltshire wet cure, consisting of beer, salt, black treacle, black peppercorns, juniper berries and saltpetre (according to HFW's recipe).’
‘A real treat would be a wonderful treacle pudding.’
‘But what's money when we've got home made treacle sponge for pudding?’
‘They waved us to empty chairs, plonking cups filled with coffee as thick as treacle in front of us - and, completely unperturbed, carried on raising the roof.’
‘For dessert, the three of us shared treacle pudding.’
‘The brown bread was not wholemeal, but coloured with molasses or treacle.’
‘Marinate it for two to four hours in a large cooking pot in two tablespoons of black treacle, black peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves, a third of a pint of wine vinegar and three onions, roughly chopped.’
‘It is then processed, cooked and eaten in various forms ranging from a sticky treacle to a dry bread.’
1.1Syrup of a golden-yellow colour; golden syrup.
‘A treacle sponge was a throwback to the days when Golden Syrup was a treat.’
2Cloying sentimentality or flattery.
‘enough of this treacle—let's get back to business’
‘Without any sentimental treacle, I cried all the way through.’
‘In such a time, his greatest mistake is not sweetening his logic with sentimental treacle.’
‘All this loss - of innocence, of dearly loved creatures - and yet, there is not a word of sentimentality or taste of treacle.’
‘That he accomplishes all this without diving head first into a pit of treacle and Hallmark sentiment makes it all the more valuable.’
Origin
Middle English (originally denoting an antidote against venom): from Old French triacle, via Latin from Greek thēriakē ‘antidote against venom’, feminine of thēriakos (adjective), from thērion ‘wild beast’. Current senses date from the late 17th century.