Scorch \Scorch\ (sk[^o]rch), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scorched; p.
pr. & vb. n. Scorching.] [OE. scorchen, probably akin to
scorcnen; cf. Norw. skrokken shrunk up, skrekka, skr["o]kka,
to shrink, to become wrinkled up, dial. Sw. skr[*a]kkla to
wrinkle (see Shrug); but perhaps influenced by OF.
escorchier to strip the bark from, to flay, to skin, F.
['e]corcher, LL. excorticare; L. ex from + cortex, -icis,
bark (cf. Cork); because the skin falls off when scorched.]
1. To burn superficially; to parch, or shrivel, the surface
of, by heat; to subject to so much heat as changes color
and texture without consuming; as, to scorch linen.
[1913 Webster]
Summer drouth or sing[`e]d air
Never scorch thy tresses fair. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. To affect painfully with heat, or as with heat; to dry up
with heat; to affect as by heat.
[1913 Webster]
Lashed by mad rage, and scorched by brutal fires.
--Prior.
[1913 Webster]
3. To burn; to destroy by, or as by, fire.
[1913 Webster]
Power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
--Rev. xvi. 8.
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The fire that scorches me to death. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Scorch \Scorch\, v. i.
1. To be burnt on the surface; to be parched; to be dried up.
[1913 Webster]
Scatter a little mungy straw or fern amongst your
seedlings, to prevent the roots from scorching.
--Mortimer.
[1913 Webster]
2. To burn or be burnt.
[1913 Webster]
He laid his long forefinger on the scarlet letter,
which forthwith seemed to scorch into Hester's
breast, as if it had been red hot. --Hawthorne.
[1913 Webster]
3. To ride or drive at great, usually at excessive, speed; --
applied chiefly to automobilists and bicyclists. [Colloq.]
--
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
scorch
n 1: a surface burn [syn: singe]
2: a plant disease that produces a browning or scorched
appearance of plant tissues
3: a discoloration caused by heat
v 1: make very hot and dry; "The heat scorched the countryside"
[syn: sear]
2: become superficially burned; "my eyebrows singed when I bent
over the flames" [syn: sear, singe]
3: destroy completely by or as if by fire; "The wildfire
scorched the forest and several homes"; "the invaders
scorched the land"
4: burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color; "The
cook blackened the chicken breast"; "The fire charred the
ceiling above the mantelpiece"; "the flames scorched the
ceiling" [syn: char, blacken]
5: become scorched or singed under intense heat or dry
conditions; "The exposed tree scorched in the hot sun"
WordNet (r) 2.0
224 Moby Thesaurus words for "scorch":
abrade, abrasion, air-dry, anhydrate, assail, attack, attaint,
bake, ball the jack, bark, barrel, be in heat, bedaub, besmear,
besmirch, besmoke, bestain, blacken, blaze, blemish, blister,
bloody, bloom, blot, blur, boil, boom, bowl along, brand, break,
breeze, breeze along, broil, brush, burn, burn in, burn off, cast,
castigate, cauterize, chafe, char, check, chip, choke, claw, clip,
coal, combust, concussion, cook, crack, crackle, craze, cupel,
cure, cut, cut along, darken, daub, dehumidify, dehydrate,
desiccate, dirty, discolor, drain, dry, evaporate, excoriate,
exsiccate, fire, flame, flame up, flare, flare up, flash burn,
flay, fleet, flicker, flit, flush, fly, fly low, foot, found,
fracture, fray, frazzle, fret, fry, fustigate, gall, gash, gasp,
glow, go fast, highball, hurt, incandesce, incise, incision,
injure, injury, insolate, kiln, lacerate, laceration, lash, lesion,
maim, make knots, make mincemeat of, mark, mat burn, maul, melt,
mortal wound, mummify, mutilate, mutilation, nip,
outstrip the wind, oxidate, oxidize, pant, parch, pierce, plot,
pour it on, puncture, pyrolyze, radiate heat, rend, rent, rip,
roast, rub, run, rupture, savage, scald, scarify, scathe, scotch,
scourge, scrape, scratch, scuff, sear, second-degree burn, seethe,
shimmer with heat, shrivel, simmer, singe, sizzle, skim, skin,
skin alive, slash, slit, slubber, slur, smear, smirch, smoke,
smolder, smother, soak up, soil, solder, sore, spark, speed,
sponge, sprain, stab, stab wound, stain, steam, stew, stick,
stifle, stigmatize, storm along, strain, suffocate, sun, sun-dry,
sunburn, sunscald, swab, sweat, sweep, swelter, swinge, taint,
tarnish, tear, tear along, third-degree burn, thunder along, toast,
torrefy, towel, trauma, traumatize, trounce, vesicate, vulcanize,
weazen, weld, whisk, whiz, windburn, wipe, wither, wizen, wound,
wounds immedicable, wrench, zing, zip, zoom
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
blacken, char, sear, singe
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