drench
[drench]
- to wet thoroughly; soak.
- to saturate by immersion in a liquid; steep.
- to cover or fill completely; bathe: trees drenched with sunlight.
- Veterinary Medicine. to administer a draft of medicine to (an animal), especially by force: to drench a horse.
- Archaic. to cause to drink.
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- the act of drenching.
- something that drenches: a drench of rain.
- a preparation for drenching or steeping.
- a solution, especially one of fermenting bran, for drenching hides or skins.
- a large drink or draft.
- a draft of medicine, especially one administered to an animal by force.
- Horticulture. a mixture of pesticide and water applied to the soil surrounding a plant.
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Origin of drench
before 900; Middle English drenchen, Old English drencan, causative of drincan to drink; cognate with Dutch drenken, German tränken to water, give to drink
Synonyms
See more synonyms for drench on Thesaurus.com1. See wet.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for drenched
Contemporary Examples
In the old days, drenched in racism as the South was, it was economically populist.
The Monopoly-style “Ghettopoly” board game was drenched in racial stereotypes, and angered the NAACP.
Who Designed Urban Outfitters's Bloody Kent State Shirt? They Won't SayAsawin Suebsaeng
September 15, 2014
"We wanted to take a picture," a drenched Wand Yu-Hon explained, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
It was a few hours into the power collapse across northern and eastern India and I was drenched in sweat.
Half a crispy fried chicken and fluffy waffles topped with a heaping scoop of whipped butter, all drenched in sweet maple syrup!
Historical Examples
It was lavender water; he drenched her hair and brow and hands.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
The country round about had been drenched with much German and Russian blood.
I believe, since 'Drunken Barnaby's Journal,' nothing like it has drenched the press.
AndrWilliam Dunlap
He was drenched in an instant, strangling and gasping for breath.
Two Thousand Miles BelowCharles Willard Diffin
Francisco felt that he was drenched, and he raised his head.
The Pirate and The Three CuttersFrederick Marryat
drench
- to make completely wet; soak
- to give liquid medicine to (an animal), esp by force
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- the act or an instance of drenching
- a dose of liquid medicine given to an animal
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Word Origin
Old English drencan to cause to drink; related to Old High German trenken
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for drenched
drench
v.
c.1200, "to submerge, drown," from Old English drencan "give drink to, ply with drink, make drunk; soak, saturate; submerge, drown," causative of drincan "to drink" (see drink), from Proto-Germanic *drankijan (cf. Old Norse drekkja, Swedish dränka, Dutch drenken, German tränken, Gothic dragkjan "to give to drink"). Sense of "to wet thoroughly by throwing liquid over" is from c.1550. Related: Drenched; drenching.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper