rock candyn.
/ˌrɒk ˈkandi/, /ˈrɒk ˌkandi/, U.S. /ˌrɑ(k) ˈkændi/ In later use chiefly North American.
A kind of hard confectionery typically made of masses of crystallized sugar, often on a string. Cf. rock n.1 5d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > hard sweet
rock sugar1652
rock candy1653
rock1718
hard candy1848
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > other sweets
scrochat1448
gobbet riala1500
Portugal1560
sugar-pellet1591
muscadine1599
moscardino1616
rock candy1653
covering-seeds1687
lollipop1784
turn-over1798
lavender-sugar1810
humbug1825
kiss1825
elecampane1826
Gibraltar1831
yellow man1831
rose cake1834
cockle1835
maple candy1840
butterscotch1847
sponge candy1850
squib1851
honeycomb1857
marshmallow1857
motto kiss1858
fondant1861
coffee cream1868
candy-braid1870
candy bar1885
suckabob1888
nut bar1896
crackerjack1902
teiglach1903
red-hot1910
violet cream1912
mouldy1916
patty1916
lace1919
Tootsie Roll1925
sugar mouse1931
Parma1971
cinder toffee1979
1653 Bk. of Fruits & Flowers 37 This is best way for rock Candy, make so small a quantity.
1670 H. Wolley Queen-like Closet cclxxxviii. 346 For Moss, take Herbs of a Rock Candy.
1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. U6 To candy Nutmegs... pour your Candy to them,..set them in a warm Place for about three Weeks, and they will be of a Rock Candy.
1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper vii. 179 Garnish with Rock Candy Sweetmeats.
1815 M. Edgeworth Love & Law iii. xliii A knot of rock-candy.
1864 Ladies Repository June 347/2 There were candy hearts, and rock-candy, and peppermints, and sugar-kisses rolled up in tissue paper with a funny motto in each.
1949 C. Himes Mama's Missionary Money in Crisis Nov. 305/2 He set up all the boys in the neighborhood to peanut brittle and icecream and rock candy.
1999 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 14 Oct. 20 Billie wants to spend his fortune on rock candy as soon as they can find a store.
Phrases
Big Rock Candy Mountain n. (also Big Rock Candy Mountains) U.S. (in allusive use, esp. among hobos) a place or situation regarded as the pinnacle of ease and luxurious comfort; a utopia, a Cockaigne.Occurring originally in versions of a song describing a hobo's utopia (cf. quot. 1906; popularized by Harry McClintock (1882–1957), but apparently traditional) and in allusions to it.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > faculty of conceiving ideals > ideal place > [noun]
heaveneOE
land of behesta1200
Cockaigne?c1335
Fortunate Islands?a1475
eutopia1553
utopia1601
horny gate (also port)1605
nonsucha1618
Americaa1631
El Dorado1788
other world1804
Cockneyland1817
cloud-cuckoo-land1824
Fiddler's Green1825
dreamland1832
Neverland1892
never-never land1900
Big Rock Candy Mountain1917
brave new world1933
Xanadu1948
Disneyland1956
ecotopia1975
1906 M. P. W. Locke Big Rock Candy Mountains (song) Come to the Big Rock Candy Mountains, And I'll show you the bees and the cigarette trees And the soda water fountains.]
1917 Machinists' Monthly Jrnl. Mar. 253 (caption) Engine No. 4000, built by the members of Rose City Lodge 325..at the foot of Big Rock Candy Mountain and the Lemonade Springs.
1961 Life Treas. Amer. Folklore 294 The Hobo Special climbs Big Rock Candy Mountain.
1975 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 16 Apr. 4/4 The goal is their 20th century version of the big rock candy mountain.
1992 C. McCarthy All Pretty Horses (1993) i. 55 He made that country sound like the Big Rock Candy Mountains. Said there was lakes and runnin water and grass to the stirrups.
2005 K. Russell Dead Game (2007) xxv. 175 We're going to make some money, bro. Life is a big rock candy mountain.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1653