Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A light, spongy, very sweet confection made of corn syrup, gelatin, sugar, and starch and dusted with powdered sugar.
- n. A confection of sweetened paste, formerly made from the root of the marshmallow plant.
- n. Botany A perennial plant (Althaea officinalis) native to Europe and naturalized in marshes of eastern North America, having showy pink flowers and a mucilaginous root occasionally used as a demulcent and in confectionery.
- n. Slang A timid, cowardly, or ineffective person.
Wiktionary
- n. figuratively Someone who is soft and benign.
Etymologies
- Old English merscmealwe, corresponding to marsh + mallow. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“They are what I call marshmallow parents: soft, sweet and bad for their children's health.”
“This marshmallow is sublime when roasted, dipped into a delicious dark chocolate fondue, and perfect in a steaming cup of cappuccino.”
Gourmet marshmallows from Plush Puffs « Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
“Packaged in jars, the semi-liquid marshmallow is much softer than a regular marshmallow, and both creamy and sticky at the same time.”
“Dark chocolate can easily dominate the vanilla flavor or cover it up entirely, depending on whether the marshmallow is completely encased.”
“The marshmallow is still quite hot at this point, and it strings out and sticks to EVERYTHING but preserve.”
“They were a bit difficult to cut as the marshmallow is very sticky but they tasted very nice - the brownie was moist and studded with walnuts and the topping was chewy and gooey.”
“Marcheline, everyone called her marshmallow because she was such a softie.”
“I liked how she shared a little personal bit of her mother with us by saying that although her name was Marcheline, everyone called her marshmallow because she was such a softie.”
“Popular Korean cartoon character Mashimaro -- whose name derives from an infant's pronunciation of the word "marshmallow" -- excretes cuddly nuggets of Web Zen humor in these wacky, fan-created Flash episodes:”
“And, yes, it was formerly an ingredient in a sweet paste called "marshmallow" - one word, the second syllable more commonly pronounced”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘marshmallow’.
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CULI - wine-tasting adjectives
In this area of expertise nouns are frequently used as adjectives (almond, bacon, cider, diesel, fennel, fresh-cut hay, wool) or new adjectives are formed (appley, berrylike, citrusy, full-bodied, ...
acetic, acidic, aged, angular, appley, astringent, attractive, austere, berrylike, big, bitter, brawny and 511 more...
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confectionary
lollies sweets
caramel gets 48 hits
chocolate gets 112 hits
nonpareil 83 hitsconfectionary, chocolate, chew, alcorza, taffy, lolly, sweets, blackball, bonbon, brickle, bubblegum, cachou and 137 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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Let Them Eat Cake...
Tasty confectionery trinkets for the listless masses.
petit four, bon bon, scone, crumpet, meringue, cupcake, beignet, tart, tiramisu, ladyfingers, fritter, crepe and 44 more...
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lala lala lala
the ell's have it
dishabille, pillow, marshmallow, quilt, cloud, silk, linen, flannel, recline, cuddle, lullaby, Llullaillaco and 15 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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food words
weetabix, blancmange, shandy, meringue, allspice, pavlova, quiche, caster sugar, suet, moonshine, turnip, swede and 93 more...
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dharma66's list
words that pique my interest either by meaning, pronunciation, or spelling, and words that otherwise tickle my fancy!!
pique, elusive, serendipity, nefarious, redundant, pseudoscientific, obsequious, flack, quandary, impervious, perchance, translucent and 168 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 3063 more... -
Best words in Beatles songs
kaleidoscope, plasticine, porters, tangerine, marmalade, cellophane, turnstile, marshmallow, lingers, slither, restless, limitless and 91 more...
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Foodie
As much fun to say as they are to eat.
blueberry, cider, almond, apricot, asparagus, banana, fudge, foldover, flapjacks, filbert, fig, biscuit and 217 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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colleen's words
yellow, green, pie, blue, fur, people, incense, book, brown, avuncular, mountain, fog and 1316 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (M)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
mace, macintosh, madras, magenta, magic 8 ball, magma, mahogany, maiden, mail, mainsail, maize, malachite and 169 more...
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zzyyxx's Words
plethora, drout, functional, rye, wring, doubt, cognative, weird, gnaw, surcease, rend, languish and 438 more...
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Words
Words I like.
jejune, eunoia, swallow, spelunk, milquetoast, echolalia, trumble, toothsome, synecdoche, taciturn, kerfuffle, aleatoric and 98 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for marshmallow.

reesetee Heehee! Love that guy's photos. Oct 25, 2009
bilby Aaaarshmallows. Oct 24, 2009
sionnach Saurian halitosis makes this an experience not to be missed. Or repeated. And getting a dragon to brush and floss is not easy, lemme tellya. Dec 1, 2008
bilby If you don't like camping and singing juvenile songs around a fire, is it possible to roast your marshmallows by the breath of your pet dragon? Has anybody tried this at home? Nov 30, 2008
slumry Traditionally marshmallows were made with the root of the marsh mallow, from which they got their name. Jul 15, 2007
reesetee Like the word; don't like the food. :-) Jun 21, 2007