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

• parchedly
  adverb
• parchedness
  noun
• unparched
  adjective

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

Dry soils and a parched atmosphere drank up the runoff before it could flow into storage.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026

The 160-acre parcel, in the parched, south-central San Luis Valley of Colorado, had been decimated by drought and overdrawn water rights and was no longer viable for farming crops or livestock.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

Rust-colored mountains tower on the horizon, pale-green succulents defy the parched earth, Spanish-style shingles fill the scenery.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026

The hot climate and sandy, parched soil make this an unlikely place for fruit and vegetables – or so you might think.

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026

Two young boys, the only children there, were going from fire to fire shaking grain in shallow pans and stirring it with paddles as it parched.

From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford

Related Words

• arid
• scorched
• thirsty
• withered