marshmallow
Forms: see marsh n.1 and mallow.
[OE. męrscmealwe.]
a. (Also pl., const. as sing.) A shrubby herb, Althea officinalis (family Malvaceæ), which grows near salt marshes, having ovate leaves, pale rose-coloured flowers, and a mucilaginous root.
For various local applications of the name see E.D.D.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 140 Ðeos wyrt þe man hibiscum & oðrum namen mersc mealwe nemnaþ. a 1100 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 296/21 Arthea, merscmealewe. c 1450 Alphita (Anecd. Oxon.) 22/2 Bismalua, alta malua, altea idem,..wymalue uel marshmalue. 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. ii. ii. 14 b/1 Take..of the rootes of Altea called Holyhocke, or marche mallowes.., a pounde. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccliii. (1633) 935 The leaves of Marsh Mallow are of the power to digest. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 576 Mallows and Marsh-Mallows..will cure near Fifty Diseases. 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 112 Althææ. Marshmallows. It flowers in July and August. 1876 tr. von Ziemssen's Cycl. Med. IV. 210 For the relief of the irritable cough,..an infusion of marsh mallow or expectorant herbs. |
| attrib. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 205 Decoction of March Mallow roots in water. 1753 Bartlet Farriery 96–7 The marshmallow ointment. 1755 New & Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. IV. 3023/2 Sydenham recommends..a posset drink, in which two ounces of marsh-mallow roots have been boiled. 1836 J. M. Gully Magendie's Formul. (ed. 2) 105 Marshmallow syrup. |
b. A confection made from the root of this plant. Also fig., esp. something or someone that is soft at the centre, ‘gooey’, sentimental.
| 1884 Chamb. Jrnl. 4 Oct. 640/2 Gum-arabic..makes about thirty per cent. of the best quality of gum-drops, marsh⁓mallow, and jujube paste. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 12/1 Chocolates, ‘marsh-mallows’, and other toothsome delicacies. 1935 A. Woollcott Let. 19 Dec. (1946) 126 It is the substance of this editorial that as a recommender of books over the radio, I take advantage of a nation-wide network to further the sale of soft, sentimental works. ‘Marshmallows’ was the term employed. 1962 Listener 20 Sept. 452/1 The result was a marshmallow. The production [of a radio play], the music, and the story pulled apart. 1966 Punch 1 June 817/3 The situations are witty, the songs as true, her eyes as mistily, romantically happy as I remembered. Perhaps it is just that I am more of a marshmallow than I was as a teenager. 1971 Guardian 10 May 10/5 Nine tenths of what actually goes on in schools is emotional marshmallow. 1973 M. Yorke Grave Matters i. ii. 14 So tough, you'd like us all to think, but inside you're a veritable marshmallow. 1974 Times 30 Apr. 9/3 Andy Williams might seem like marshmallow on television but..has a superb flair. |
c. attrib. and Comb. (also in fig. sense of ‘soft, delicate; sticky, cloying, excessively sweet’); marshmallow roast, a party at which marshmallows are served.
| 1906 Amer. Illustr. Mag. Mar. 562/1 Girls assemble shreds and patches, buttons and marshmallow boxes. 1914 Nation 27 Aug. 242 A lady of the very highest fashion had been that evening entertaining at a ‘marshmallow roast’. 1918 in C. B. de Mille Autobiogr. (1959) x. 209 The photoplay is breaking away from the marshmallow school of drama. 1926 Hutchinson's Best Story Mag. Nov. 109/1 Chocolate marshmallow ice cream. 1930 E. Pound XXX Cantos xxix. 137 Languor has cried unto languor about the marshmallow-roast. 1934 T. Wilder Heaven's my Destination 43 A campfire sing and marshmallow roast. 1936 M. H. Bradley Five-Minute Girl 235 It was to be a marshmallow roast, with coffee. 1959 Times 14 Feb. 9/7 His [sc. a pianist's] exquisite, marshmallow-fingered touch. 1973 Washington Post 13 Jan. A. 18/3 (Advt.), Refined, traditional sleep sofa..84{pp} with deep tufted back and marshmallow front loose seat cushions. 1973 L. Hellman Pentimento (1974) 188, I never heard his name through the marshmallow English syllables. 1973 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 4 Sept. 4/7 A prosecutor in his summation is not required to hit the defendant with marshmallow blows, but his attack must be fair and within recognized limits of law. |
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Add: Hence marshˈmallowy a., soft; esp. fig., cloying, sentimental.
| 1907 Smart Set XXI. Mar. 4/1, [I] watched a pack of emotional matinée-girls crowd round him and coo about their Over-Souls and all that sort of marshmallowy rubbish. 1984 Listener 17 May 35/2 Such a pose appeals to her marshmallowy romanticism. 1993 Coloradoan (Fort Collins) 12 Sept. c1/2 Or maybe an image of those marshmallowy moon boots that lie forgotten in the back of the closet? |