parched

[pahrcht]

adjective

1. extremely or completely dried, as by heat, sun, or wind.

   Dry shrubs cover parts of this parched valley in the South Hebron Hills.

2. very thirsty.

   After each shift in the ship’s engine room, I was dead tired and totally parched, needing large amounts of water.

3. (of peas, beans, grains, etc.) slightly toasted or roasted.

   The village folk customarily have one meal a day of parched grains, so there is always a crowd around the old widow’s oven.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of parch.

Other Word Forms

• parchedly adverb
• parchedness noun
• unparched adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of parched¹

parch ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

As part of the water-saving efforts, farmers in California’s Imperial Valley are temporarily leaving some hay fields parched and fallow in exchange for cash payments.

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It has endured millennia of drought and war in this parched land scarred by conflict.

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Their front yard was pathetic: basically 1,500 square feet of weeds and parched patches of Bermuda lawn.

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The pumping has led to resentment among leaders of Native tribes, who say it is leaving their valley parched and harming the environment.

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The mountains went from parched on Sunday to snow-capped on Wednesday.

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Related Words

• arid 
• scorched www.thesaurus.com
• thirsty 
• withered www.thesaurus.com