parch
Americanverb (used with object)
-
parches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
parched,
past participle, past
-
parching
present participle
-
to make extremely, excessively, or completely dry, as heat, sun, and wind do.
-
to make dry, hot, or thirsty.
Walking in the sun parched his throat.
-
to dry (peas, beans, grain, etc.) by exposure to heat without burning; to toast or roast slightly.
A staple of the Indian diet was parched corn.
-
to dry or shrivel with cold.
verb (used without object)
-
parches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
parched,
past participle, past
-
parching
present participle
-
to suffer from heat, thirst, or need of water.
-
to become parched; undergo drying by heat.
-
to dry (usually followed byup ).
verb
-
to deprive or be deprived of water; dry up
the sun parches the fields
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(tr; usually passive) to make very thirsty
I was parched after the run
-
(tr) to roast (corn, etc) lightly
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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parchsimple
-
parchessimple
-
have parchedperfect
-
has parchedperfect
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am parchingprogressive
-
are parchingprogressive
-
is parchingprogressive
-
have been parchingperfect progressive
-
has been parchingperfect progressive
Past
-
parchedsimple
-
had parchedperfect
-
was parchingprogressive
-
were parchingprogressive
-
had been parchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of parch
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English perchen; further origin unknown
Explanation
If you don't water your lawn all summer, the hot weather will parch the grass until it's brown and withered. To parch is to dry up or wither due to sunlight or heat. The verb parch is often used in the context of plants and people. Crops will parch during a drought. A patient's skin will parch during an intense fever. If you're a fan of cooking shows, you may hear the word used in a less dire way. A chef may "parch some corn," which basically means she will roast it lightly. Parch can also mean "to make thirsty," as in "After running a marathon in this heat, you'll feel parched."
Vocabulary lists containing parch
The Birchbark House
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"Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats
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Shabanu
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Meanwhile, at Portchester Castle in Hampshire, the warm conditions have led to parch marks revealing the outline of a Tudor storehouse.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
The parch begins in autumn, just as trees across the region shed their colorful leaves—a highly flammable fuel for wildfires.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 23, 2023
“Griffith cast a malevolent parch over the throats of local fandom by stating that inasmuch as beer never had been sold in his park, it would not now,” The Washington Post reported, sadly.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2023
Many have fled, heading to neighboring Iran or living in abject poverty in camps for the displaced within Afghanistan as repeated droughts parch the land and shrivel pastures.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 22, 2021
I must parch it and grind it for supper.
From Ann Boyd by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben
The unusual intensity of some of the fires across Europe underlines the increasing risk the continent faces as climate change parches vegetation and makes the emergencies more extreme, scientists say.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
The Great Salt Lake has already shrunk by two-thirds, as a broad swath of Utah around it parches.
From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2022
Hot, dry weather parches the landscape, creating more fuel to feed fires.
From The Verge ● Aug. 6, 2021
When the chicks are older and the summer sun parches the landscape, she will lead them to higher altitudes for water and cooler temperatures.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2018
She had gone through the horrors of war, as through a flame that dries up and parches everything it touches, and in the end converts it to dust.
From The Enemies of Women (Los enemigos de la mujer) by Vicente Blasco Ib??ez
A scorching summer has shrunk rivers, parched crops and tested the continent’s infrastructure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Most of the rain that does eventually fall will be absorbed by the parched ground before it can replenish rivers, exacerbating the problem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
This means the rain forecast in the coming days is likely to do very little to quench the parched earth.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
He arranged the private screening to symbolically request Robert De Niro’s blessing to play the dangerously charismatic Max Cady, an ex-con parched for revenge against those who had a hand in his imprisonment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
He felt suddenly parched, and his forehead was warm and slightly numb from the balm.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
A parching lack of rainfall extended the fire season into the normally wet month of January.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025
The trend is likely to continue as the climate grows warmer and drier, reducing snowpacks, increasing evaporation and parching soils that absorb runoff.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2022
The drought has been particularly devastating for European agriculture, which was already suffering from an abnormally dry spring season, parching crops, making it harder to feed livestock and raising worries about reduced harvests.
From New York Times ● Aug. 5, 2022
After a summer of record-smashing heat, parching drought, and roaring wildfires, devastating rains fell on the region from October to December, causing flash floods and mudslides that trapped hundreds of people.
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2021
They already had a pile of birds large enough to fill the biggest parching tray, which Angeline had fetched from the camp.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
