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.
-
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
-
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.
A flaming red rage rips through me, scorching hot, making me vibrate with a ferocity unlike anything I’ve felt before.
From Literature
He looked down at his tail, which he distinctly recalled being scorched in his escape.
From Literature
From just inside the opposition half, Jarrell-Searcy shrugged off Jess Breach and scorched in for the Eagles' only try of the tournament opener.
From BBC
It’s finally expected to cool down in Southern California this weekend after a scorching heat wave this week broke temperature records across the region.
From Los Angeles Times
Death Valley on Thursday scorched in 40C degrees while the often cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29C degrees, and skiers in Colorado were hitting the slopes shirtless.
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.
