drench

[ drench ]

verb (used with object)

1. to wet thoroughly; soak.
2. to saturate by immersion in a liquid; steep.
3. to cover or fill completely; bathe:

   trees drenched with sunlight.

4. Veterinary Medicine. to administer a draft of medicine to (an animal), especially by force:

   to drench a horse.

5. Archaic. to cause to drink.

noun

1. the act of drenching.
2. something that drenches:

   a drench of rain.

3. a preparation for drenching or steeping.
4. a solution, especially one of fermenting bran, for drenching hides or skins.
5. a large drink or draft.
6. a draft of medicine, especially one administered to an animal by force.
7. Horticulture. a mixture of pesticide and water applied to the soil surrounding a plant.

drench

/ drɛntʃ /

verb

1. to make completely wet; soak
2. to give liquid medicine to (an animal), esp by force

noun

1. the act or an instance of drenching
2. a dose of liquid medicine given to an animal

Derived Forms

• ˈdrenching, nounadjective
• ˈdrencher, noun

Other Words From

• drencher noun
• drenching·ly adverb
• un·drenched adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of drench¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English drenchen, Old English drencan, causative of drincan “to drink” ( drink ); cognate with Dutch drenken, German tränken “to water, give to drink”

Word History and Origins

Origin of drench¹

Old English drencan to cause to drink; related to Old High German trenken

Synonym Study

See wet.

Example Sentences

Even by day the Maruts create darkness with the water-bearing cloud, when they drench the earth.

From Project Gutenberg

Drench is the causative of drink: here the nominative of the verb is ‘Iris’ and the object ‘beds.’

From Project Gutenberg

Sometimes she was so weary that she sank down by the roadside and let130 the night-dew drench her aching limbs.

From Project Gutenberg

Epsom salt, in one ounce doses, given either as a gruel or a drench, will be found to answer the purpose well.

From Project Gutenberg

You will drench yourself in the blood of the innocent, only that you may do it—while no effect shall follow.'

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• deluge
• douse
• drown
• immerse
• impregnate
• inundate
• saturate
• soak
• steep
• submerge