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A gobstopper, also known as a jawbreaker in Canada and the United States, is a type of boiled sweet. It is usually round, and usually ranges from 1 to 3 cm (0.4 to 1.2 in) across; though gobstoppers billed as having a diameter as large as 3.25 in (83 mm) have been marketed.
The term gobstopper derives from "gob", which is slang in the United Kingdom and Ireland for mouth. The sweet was a favourite among British schoolboys in the first half of the twentieth century; author Roald Dahl, who wrote about a jar of gobstoppers featuring in the prank he played in his local sweet shop in 1924, also referred to them in his fictional Everlasting Gobstopper which was featured in his 1964 children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
A gobstopper usually consists of a number of layers, each dissolving to reveal a different colour, and sometimes flavour. A gobstopper is too hard to bite without risking dental damage (hence the name "jawbreaker").
Gobstoppers have been sold in traditional sweet shops for at least a century, often by weight from jars. As gobstoppers dissolve very slowly, they last a very long time in the mouth, which is a major factor in their popularity.