scorch
Americanverb (used with object)
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to affect the color, taste, etc., of by burning slightly.
The collar of the shirt was yellow where the iron had scorched it.
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to parch or shrivel with heat.
The sun scorched the grass.
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to criticize severely.
- Antonyms:
- laud
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Machinery. burn.
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to destroy (crops, towns, etc.) by or as if by fire in the path of an invading army's advance.
verb (used without object)
-
to become scorched.
Milk scorches easily.
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Informal. to travel or drive at high speed.
The car scorched along the highway.
noun
verb
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to burn or become burnt, so as to affect the colour, taste, etc, or to cause or feel pain
-
to wither or parch or cause to wither from exposure to heat
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informal (intr) to be very hot
it is scorching outside
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informal (tr) to criticize harshly
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slang (intr) to drive or ride very fast
noun
-
a slight burn
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a mark caused by the application of too great heat
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horticulture a mark or series of marks on fruit, vegetables, etc, caused by pests or insecticides
Related Words
See burn 1.
Other Word Forms
- scorching adjective
- unscorched adjective
- well-scorched adjective
Etymology
Origin of scorch
1400–50; late Middle English scorchen, perhaps blend of scorcnen (< Scandinavian; compare Old Norse skorpna to shrivel) and torch 1
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.
On scorched land once covered with debris and ash, he now sees concrete foundations and wood-framed outlines of new homes.
Wooden balconies above the bar were bleached white from the heat, and several trees outside were scorched of all their leaves.
“In a physical attack, you can crash into drones, trap them in a net or scorch them with a laser,” said Andres Gomez, an electronics engineer at Aeronautical Industry.
But the common descriptors “scorched,” “blackened” and “destroyed” did not apply.
From Los Angeles Times
The empty car, which had a "Happy Chanukah" sign fixed to the roof, was scorched by the fire while parked in a house driveway, images on national broadcaster ABC television showed.
From Barron's
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.
