Adjacent Words

Scorch definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SCORCH, v.t.
1. To burn superficially; to subject to a degree of heat that changes the color of a thing, or both the color and texture of the surface. Fire will scorch linen or cotton very speedily in extremely cold weather.
2. To burn; to affect painfully with heat. Scorched with the burning sun or burning sands of Africa.
SCORCH, v.i. To be burnt on the surface; to be parched; to be dried up.
Scatter a little mungy straw and fern among your seedlings, to prevent the roots from scorching.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a surface burn [syn: scorch, 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, scorch]
2: become superficially burned; "my eyebrows singed when I bent over the flames" [syn: scorch, 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, sear, scorch]
5: become scorched or singed under intense heat or dry conditions; "The exposed tree scorched in the hot sun"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English; probably akin to Middle English scorcnen to become singed, scorklen to parch Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to burn a surface of so as to change its color and texture 2. a. to dry or shrivel with or as if with intense heat ; parch b. to afflict painfully with censure or sarcasm 3. devastate; especially to destroy (as property of possible use to an advancing enemy) before abandoning — used in the phrase scorched earth intransitive verb 1. to become scorched 2. to travel at great and usually excessive speed 3. to cause intense heat or mental anguish <scorching sun> <scorching fury> • scorchingly adverb II. noun Date: 15th century 1. a result of scorching 2. a browning of plant tissues usually from disease or heat III. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, perhaps blend of scoren to score and scocchen to scotch Date: 14th century dialect British cut, slash

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 tr. a burn the surface of with flame or heat so as to discolour, parch, injure, or hurt. b affect with the sensation of burning. 2 intr. become discoloured etc. with heat. 3 tr. (as scorching adj.) colloq. a (of the weather) very hot. b (of criticism etc.) stringent; harsh. 4 intr. colloq. (of a motorist etc.) go at excessive speed. --n. 1 a mark made by scorching. 2 colloq. a spell of fast driving etc. Phrases and idioms: scorched earth policy the burning of crops etc. and the removing or destroying of anything that might be of use to an enemy force occupying a country. Derivatives: scorchingly adv. Etymology: ME, perh. rel. to skorkle in the same sense

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Scorch Scorch, v. i. 1. To be burnt on the surface; to be parched; to be dried up. Scatter a little mungy straw or fern amongst your seedlings, to prevent the roots from scorching. --Mortimer. 2. To burn or be burnt. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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. Summer drouth or sing[`e]d air Never scorch thy tresses fair. --Milton. 2. To affect painfully with heat, or as with heat; to dry up with heat; to affect as by heat. Lashed by mad rage, and scorched by brutal fires. --Prior. 3. To burn; to destroy by, or as by, fire. Power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. --Rev. xvi. 8. The fire that scorches me to death. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Scorch Scorch, v. i. To ride or drive at great, usually at excessive, speed; -- applied chiefly to automobilists and bicyclists. [Colloq.] -- Scorch"er, n. [Colloq.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(scorches, scorching, scorched) 1. To scorch something means to burn it slightly. The bomb scorched the side of the building. VERB: V n • scorched ...scorched black earth. ADJ 2. If something scorches or is scorched, it becomes marked or changes colour because it is affected by too much heat or by a chemical. The leaves are inclined to scorch in hot sunshine... If any of the spray goes onto the lawn it will scorch the grass. VERB: V, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Burn superficially, singe, char, roast, parch, shrivel. 2. Burn, blister.

Moby Thesaurus

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