What is "sweet rush"

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.

   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.

2. The merest trifle; a straw. John Bull's friendship is not worth a rush. --Arbuthnot. Bog rush. See under Bog. Club rush, any rush of the genus Scirpus. Flowering rush. See under Flowering. Nut rush

   1. Any plant of the genus Scleria, rushlike plants with hard nutlike fruits.

   2. 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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 sch[oe]nanthus), used in Oriental medical practice.

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

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. s[ae]tr, s[oe]tr, 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.

2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; redolent; balmy; as, a sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense.

   The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
   --Longfellow.

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.

   To make his English sweet upon his tongue.
   --Chaucer.

   A voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful.
   --Hawthorne.

4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair; as, a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion.

   Sweet interchange Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.
   --Milton.

5. Fresh; not salt or brackish; as, sweet water.
   --Bacon.

6. Not changed from a sound or wholesome state. Specifically:

   1. Not sour; as, sweet milk or bread.

   2. Not state; not putrescent or putrid; not rancid; as, sweet butter; sweet meat or fish.

7. Plaesing to the mind; mild; gentle; calm; amiable; winning; presuasive; as, sweet manners. Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades? --Job xxxviii. 3

   1. Mildness and sweet reasonableness is the one established rule of Christian working. --M. Arnold. Note: Sweet is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sweet-blossomed, sweet-featured, sweet-smelling, sweet-tempered, sweet-toned, etc. Sweet alyssum. (Bot.) See Alyssum. Sweet apple. (Bot.)

      1. Any apple of sweet flavor.

      2. See Sweet-top. Sweet bay. (Bot.)

         1. The laurel ( laurus nobilis).

         2. Swamp sassafras. Sweet calabash (Bot.), a plant of the genus Passiflora ( P. maliformis) growing in the West Indies, and producing a roundish, edible fruit, the size of an apple. Sweet cicely. (Bot.)

            1. Either of the North American plants of the umbelliferous genus Osmorrhiza having aromatic roots and seeds, and white flowers.
               --Gray.

            2. A plant of the genus Myrrhis ( M. 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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 ( C. odorata); -- called also sultan flower. Sweet tooth, an especial fondness for sweet things or for sweetmeats. [Colloq.] Sweet William.

      1. (Bot.) A species of pink ( Dianthus barbatus) of many varieties.

      2. (Zo["o]l.) The willow warbler.

      3. (Zo["o]l.) 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.

         Syn: Sugary; saccharine; dulcet; luscious.

Sweet Rush may refer to:

• Sweet rush, one of several names (beewort, calamus root, myrtle grass) for Acorus calamus
• Sweet Rush, English title for Polish director Andrzej Wajda's Tatarak