Sen-Sen

See also: sensen

English

Alternative forms

• sensen, sen-sen

Etymology

Proprietary name in the US; apparently an arbitrary creation.

Noun

Sen-Sen (uncountable)

1. A brand of breath freshener (discontinued in 2013) containing liquorice, often used to disguise the use of alcohol or tobacco.
   • 1915, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 103, in Of Human Bondage:

     She was overdressed, but not badly dressed […] ; she carried a black satin bag and chewed Sen-sens.

   • 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Amistad, published 2013, page 92:

     The sen-sen was to let on to the other boys and the pullet-sized girls that he had a liquor breath to cover.

   • 1951, Pamela Branch, Lion in the Cellar:

     He was eating sen-sen cachous.