Syrup is a thick, sweet liquid made by dissolving sugar in water or juice, often combined with flavoring. The most famous example is maple syrup, made by boiling down the sap from maple trees until it becomes thick and sweet enough to pour over pancakes or waffles. But syrup comes in many varieties: chocolate syrup for ice cream sundaes, corn syrup used in baking, cough syrup that helps soothe a sore throat, and fruit syrups like grenadine (made from pomegranates) that add flavor to drinks.

What makes something a syrup is its thickness and sweetness. If you've ever tried to pour honey or syrup on a cold morning, you've noticed how slowly it flows compared to water or juice. That thick, sticky consistency happens because syrup contains so much dissolved sugar.

The word also describes anything moving in that slow, thick way. A teacher might say a tired student is moving as slow as syrup on Monday morning. In Vermont and other maple-producing regions, late winter is called sugaring season, when families tap maple trees and boil the sap into syrup, continuing a tradition that goes back hundreds of years to Indigenous peoples who first discovered the process.