Showing results for "parched"

• past tense form of parch.
• past participle 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

ENSENADA, Mexico — In a parched hillside village southeast of Ensenada, where electricity and plumbing are scarce and roaming dogs are plentiful, a treasure can be found on the grounds of an elementary school.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2026

He said he would hang on until next week to cut his wheat, for fear the combine harvester would spark a fire in the parched crop.

From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026

Late-stage funds have a shorter time horizon to returning capital, a key consideration for many LPs parched for cash, said Angela Lai, vice president at Preqin.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 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

“For the earth is parched to dust and all that I grew is dead. The rains failed, as you know.”

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Related Words

• arid
• scorched
• thirsty
• withered