Rush \Rush\, n. [OE. rusche, rische, resche, AS. risce, akin to
   LG. rusk, risch, D. & G. rusch; all probably fr. L. ruscum
   butcher's broom; akin to Goth. raus reed, G. rohr.]
   1. (Bot.) A name given to many aquatic or marsh-growing
      endogenous plants with soft, slender stems, as the species
      of Juncus and Scirpus.
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   Note: Some species are used in bottoming chairs and plaiting
         mats, and the pith is used in some places for wicks to
         lamps and rushlights.
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   2. The merest trifle; a straw.
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            John Bull's friendship is not worth a rush.
                                                  --Arbuthnot.
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   Bog rush. See under Bog.

   Club rush, any rush of the genus Scirpus.

   Flowering rush. See under Flowering.

   Nut rush
      (a) Any plant of the genus Scleria, rushlike plants with
          hard nutlike fruits.
      (b) A name for several species of Cyperus having
          tuberous roots.

   Rush broom, an Australian leguminous plant (Viminaria
      denudata), having long, slender branches. Also, the
      Spanish broom. See under Spanish.

   Rush candle, See under Candle.

   Rush grass, any grass of the genus Vilfa, grasses with
      wiry stems and one-flowered spikelets.

   Rush toad (Zool.), the natterjack.

   Scouring rush. (Bot.) Same as Dutch rush, under Dutch.
      

   Spike rush, any rushlike plant of the genus Eleocharis,
      in which the flowers grow in dense spikes.

   Sweet rush, a sweet-scented grass of Arabia, etc.
      (Andropogon schoenanthus), used in Oriental medical
      practice.

   Wood rush, any plant of the genus Luzula, which differs
      in some technical characters from Juncus.
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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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