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RELATED WORDS

toast, blight, sizzle, scorch, brown, dehydrate, wilt, brand, parch, cauterize, harden, cook, wither, exsiccate, seal, desiccate, tan, shrivel

Nearby words

  1. seapiece,
  2. seaplane,
  3. seaport,
  4. seaq,
  5. seaquake,
  6. search,
  7. search dog,
  8. search engine,
  9. search engine optimization,
  10. search me

Origin of sear

1
before 900; (adj.) Middle English sere, Old English sēar; cognate with Dutch zoor; (v.) Middle English seren, Old English sēarian, derivative of sēar
Related formsun·seared, adjective

Synonym study

1. See burn1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for seared

British Dictionary definitions for seared (1 of 2)

sear

1
/ (sɪə) /

verb (tr)

to scorch or burn the surface of
to brand with a hot iron
to cause to wither or dry up
rare to make callous or unfeeling

noun

a mark caused by searing

adjective

poetic dried up

Word Origin for sear

Old English sēarian to become withered, from sēar withered; related to Old High German sōrēn, Greek hauos dry, Sanskrit sōsa drought

British Dictionary definitions for seared (2 of 2)

sear

2
/ (sɪə) /

noun

the catch in the lock of a small firearm that holds the hammer or firing pin cocked

Word Origin for sear

C16: probably from Old French serre a clasp, from serrer to hold firmly, from Late Latin sērāre to bolt, from Latin sera a bar
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012