sweetening

Related to sweetening: sweeting, sweetening the pill

sweeten (up) the deal

To make something more enticing, alluring, or attractive, especially from a financial perspective. He was still unsure whether he wanted the job, so the company offered to sweeten the deal with an excellent pension plan. Don't be afraid to sweeten the deal with a little bit of pocket money if your kids are really unwilling to do chores.
See also: deal, sweeten

sweeten (up) the kitty

To make something more enticing, alluring, or attractive, especially from a financial perspective. He was still unsure whether he wanted the job, so the company offered to sweeten the kitty with an excellent pension plan. Don't be afraid to sweeten the kitty with a little bit of pocket money if your kids are really unwilling to do chores.
See also: kitty, sweeten

sweeten (up) the pot

To make something more enticing, alluring, or attractive, especially from a financial perspective. He was still unsure whether he wanted the job, so the company offered to sweeten the pot with an excellent pension plan. Don't be afraid to sweeten the pot with a little bit of pocket money if your kids are really unwilling to do chores.
See also: pot, sweeten

sweeten the pill

To make something bad, unpleasant, or dissatisfactory easier to cope with, endure, or accept. The bosses are giving everyone an extra 10% bonus this Christmas, but I suspect it's a way of sweetening the pill that there will be massive pay cuts in January. I have to tell my mom about wrecking her car, but I need to find a way to sweeten the pill first.
See also: pill, sweeten

sweeten up

1. Literally, to make something taste sweeter. A noun or pronoun can be used between "sweeten" and "up." I like to use honey to sweeten up my tea. Just use a dash of sugar to cut through the acidity of the tomatoes in the sauce, but not so much that you end up sweetening it up.
2. To make something more pleasant, appealing, or enticing, especially from a financial perspective. A noun or pronoun can be used between "sweeten" and "up." I really don't want to look after Tommy this weekend, but buying me that video game I've been asking for would really sweeten up the deal. Desperate to close the sale, the owners tried to sweeten it up by offering to knock $10,000 off the price of the house.
3. To cause someone to be more pleasant, amiable, or magnanimous. A noun or pronoun can be used between "sweeten" and "up." I thought moving to Florida would sweeten up my cranky old uncle, but he's still as cantankerous as ever. He tried to sweeten her up with an expensive gift, but she still wouldn't give him the time of day.
See also: sweeten, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

sweeten someone up

to make someone more pleasant. I had hoped that a week in the Caribbean would sweeten him up. The trip sweetened him up, but not for long.
See also: sweeten, up

sweeten something up

to make something taste sweeter. Where is the sugar? I need to sweeten this up a little. A little sugar will sweeten up the coffee.
See also: sweeten, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

sweeten up

v.
1. To make something sweet or sweeter: The recipe instructs to sweeten up the sauce with a tablespoon of sugar. I usually add some honey to my tea to sweeten it up.
2. To make some offer more appealing: The phone company sweetened up their deal by throwing in a free phone. If you're still unimpressed with our proposal, we can sweeten it up with a great benefits package.
See also: sweeten, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • sweeten
  • sweeten (up) the deal
  • sweeten (up) the kitty
  • sweeten (up) the pot
  • sweeten the deal
  • sweeten the kitty
  • sweeten the pot
  • be a devil
  • be a devil!
  • sex up
References in periodicals archive
Operator to phase 10 development project Hamid Reza Masoudi said 12.5 mcm/d of sour gas will be injected to the refinery for sweetening in the next 5 years.
Inauguration of the train brings the refinery's gas sweetening capacity to 40 mcm/d which is tantamount to the gas produced by 1.5 standard South Pars phases.
3rd Train of Phase 19 Refinery Ready for Startup
"At present a team of experts is trying to boost gas pressure in order to feed the gas sweetening facilities which is expected to reach a desired level for starting sweetening process at Unit 110 of the facility.
South Pars Phases 15-16 Gas Treatment Facilities Startup
Summary: TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has attained self-sufficiency in meetings its needs to gas sweetening tools, systems and equipment, an Iranian official said Sunday, adding that the country now ranks fifth in the world in this field.
The Project Manager of South Pars (Sweetening) Towers, Siyavash Araqi, told reporters in Arak city on Sunday that these towers are used for sweetening sour gas in the Iran-Qatar joint gas field.
Iran Attains Self-Sufficiency in Gas Sweetening Equipment