Showing results for "parched"

• past participle of parch.
• past tense form of parch.

parched

American  

[pahrcht] / pɑrtʃt /

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.

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

• parchedness
  noun
• unparched
  adjective
• parchedly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of parched

parch ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

Something parched is excessively dry and hot, in extreme need of water, like a desert, a neglected plant, or your throat after a five-kilometer run. Some foods, like corn, beans, or grains, may be parched, or toasted, to bring out their flavor and help preserve them. American Indians parched corn to make it keep and remain edible over the winter. They taught this to the new colonists, and parched corn later became a staple of explorers like Lewis and Clark, as well as soldiers during the Civil War. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote of parched corn, "It crackled and crunched, and its taste was sweet and brown."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

parched

That is because parched, rock-hard ground may struggle to absorb water at first, so some rainwater may simply run off the surface instead.

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

The waters of the mighty Danube, Europe's second longest river, have dropped in parts to a record low due to prolonged rain shortages and successive heatwaves that have parched the continent since May.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

"There's no nutritional value here for them," says Sam Woolford, in a field of parched grass on his family farm in Wiltshire.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

We reached a clearing at the creek bed and studied the rocky, parched ground, and I imagined a time when this had been a lively stream that one could wade in for a swim.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Related Words

• arid
• scorched
• thirsty
• withered