scorch

American  

[skawrch] / skɔrtʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to affect the color, taste, etc., of by burning slightly.

   The collar of the shirt was yellow where the iron had scorched it.

   Synonyms:

   blister, char

2. to parch or shrivel with heat.

   The sun scorched the grass.

3. to criticize severely.

   Synonyms:

   condemn, excoriate

   Antonyms:

   laud

4. Machinery. burn.

5. to destroy (crops, towns, etc.) by or as if by fire in the path of an invading army's advance.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to become scorched.

   Milk scorches easily.

2. Informal. to travel or drive at high speed.

   The car scorched along the highway.

noun

1. a superficial burn.

scorch British  

/ skɔːtʃ /

verb

1. to burn or become burnt, so as to affect the colour, taste, etc, or to cause or feel pain

2. to wither or parch or cause to wither from exposure to heat

3. informal (intr) to be very hot

   it is scorching outside

4. informal (tr) to criticize harshly

5. slang (intr) to drive or ride very fast

---

noun

1. a slight burn

2. a mark caused by the application of too great heat

3. 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

Explanation

To scorch is to burn something fiercely, to the point where its surface — your face, prairie grass, a steak on the grill — chars or otherwise changes color. Although scorch usually refers to burning something (whether it's the sun or a blowtorch doing the burning), that's not always the case. An army can scorch an enemy territory — meaning raze everything in sight, without technically setting it on fire. Scorch can also mean to quickly overpower something or somebody, as in: "We're gonna scorch the other team tomorrow."

Example Sentences

Scorch marks could be seen in the upstairs window of a property in Ballyferis Walk in the Kilcooley estate in Bangor.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2023

It was a surprise hit and a follow-up — “The Scorch Trials” — started filming a month after the first one was released.

From New York Times • May 27, 2018

But “The Maze Runner” and its follow-up, “The Scorch Trials,” conjured unique worlds and situations.

From Washington Post • Jan. 25, 2018

“The Scorch Trials,” the sequel to “Maze,” offered yet another disappointment for the YA genre, taking home 20 percent less domestically than its forerunner.

From Salon • Jul. 24, 2016

He could only sit and stare out the window into the rain and blackness, pondering words like Flare and sickness and experiment and Scorch and WICKED.

From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner

Related Words

• bake
• blacken
• char
• melt
• parch
• sear