lollipop

• lolli-pop, lollypop, lolly pop, lolly-pop

Attested from 1784 meaning some form of candy; at least two theories exist. One is that it is from Romani loli (“red”) + phabaj (“apple”); candy apples are often red, and are always placed on a stick to keep the person's hands dry. However candy apples were not well-known until a century after the first known use of the word lollipop.

Therefore, it may be a native word derived from loll (“to dangle the tongue”) + pop.

Neither of these stories fit well if the original lollipop was a small item like modern penny candy, however, so the possibility remains that the word was simply an expressive coinage in the manner of similar words not known to be related, such as loblolly and poplolly.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒl.i.pɒp/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ.li.pɑp/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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lollipop (plural lollipops)

1. An item of confectionery consisting of a piece of candy or sweet attached to a stick.

   Synonyms: lolly, (US) sucker

2. Something having the shape of a lollipop: a linear stem connected to a round body.

   Synonyms: lasso, (hiking trails) semiloop

   • 1993, Laura S. Frost, “Conjugative Pili and Pilus-Specific Phages”, in D.B. Clewell, editor, Bacterial Conjugation, Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, page 209:

     The gene III proteins appear as five lollipops protruding from the end of the phage, and these “balls” can be removed by treatment of the phage with subtilisin, rendering the phage noninfectious.

   • 2010, Renaud Le Goix, Delphine Callen, “Production and Social Sustainability of Private Enclaves in Suburban Landscapes”, in Samer Bagaeen, Ola Uduku, editors, Gated Communities: Social Sustainability in Contemporary and Historical Gated Developments‎^[1], Earthscan, →ISBN, page 107:

     The reasons for this containment of gated communities and private streets are not to be sought in morphology (suburban residential developments with lollipops and dead ends are common in France), but rather in local practices by residents.

   • 2019, Joe Baur, Best Hikes Cleveland: The Greatest Views, Wildlife, and Forest Strolls (Best Hikes Near Series), Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 43:

     Mount Pleasant itself is a lollipop trail. Walking along the handle of the lollipop is a breeze—the perfect warm-up for the uphill climb at the beginning of the loop.

3. (motor racing) A sign on a stick held in front of the vehicle during a pit stop.

lollipop (third-person singular simple present lollipops, present participle lollipopping, simple past and past participle lollipopped)

1. (horticulture) To prune the lower branches of a tree or other plant so that new growth appears only at the top, where more light is received.

• poplolly
• loblolly
• lolly