Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A light, spongy, very sweet confection made of corn syrup, gelatin, sugar, and often vanilla.
  • noun A confection of sweetened paste, formerly made from the root of the marshmallow plant.
  • noun A perennial plant (Althaea officinalis) in the mallow family, native to Eurasia and naturalized in eastern North America, having pink flowers and a mucilaginous root used in herbal medicine and formerly in confections.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun figuratively Someone who is soft and benign.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English merscmealwe, corresponding to marsh +‎ mallow.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Like the word; don't like the food. :-)

    June 21, 2007

  • Traditionally marshmallows were made with the root of the marsh mallow, from which they got their name.

    July 15, 2007

  • 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?

    November 30, 2008

  • 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.

    December 1, 2008

  • Aaaarshmallows.

    October 24, 2009

  • Heehee! Love that guy's photos.

    October 25, 2009