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sugar down

C1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

To make something less sweet by adding more liquid or reducing the sugar in it.

Literal meaning: To bring sugar down (in concentration or amount).

Meanings

1 C1 neutral

To reduce the sweetness or sugar concentration of a liquid or food by diluting it.

"The lemonade was too sweet, so she sugared it down by adding more water."

Grammar: separable
2 C1 neutral

In maple syrup production, to let the sugar content of boiling sap decrease or to bring a syrup batch to a lower sugar concentration.

"If you sugar down the batch too much, you'll end up with a thinner syrup that won't keep as long."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Primarily used in cooking, food production, and maple syrup processing contexts. Not widely used in everyday speech; more technical or regional (especially in North American rural/farming communities).

Commonly used with

syrup mixture solution recipe batch concentrate

Forms

Base
sugar down
I/you/we/they
3rd person
sugars down
he/she/it
Past simple
sugared down
yesterday
Past participle
sugared down
have + pp
-ing form
sugaring down
continuous

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