DCHP-1 Online

sugaring-off Maple Industry

• 1 n. the process of boiling maple sap to make syrup and sugar through evaporation and crystallization.

  See also: maple-sugar making  sap-boiling  sugar-making  sugar off  

  • 1836  (1846)  The best rule I can give as to the sugaring-off . . . is to let the liquid continue at a fast boil.
  • 1885  Each day's run was finished, if possible, the same night, when the sugaring-off took place.
  • 1954  The sweet smell of sugaring-off was carried on the west wind.
  • 1966  The sap was boiled in iron kettles . . . until it was time for "sugaring off."

• 2 n. a party held in the sugar bush at the time of sugaring-off (def. 1).

  See also: sugaring-off (def. 1)  sugaring-off party  

  • 1901  She was glad, too, that her aunt had fixed the sugaring-off for a time when she could be present.
  • 1903  Whereupon Mrs. Bancroft . . . resolved, when the spring days should come, to have a "sugaring-off". . . .
  • 1905  Happy were the experiences of "sugaring-off," when the youth from the neighborhood, the boys and the girls, assembled at the sugar-camp to have a good time.