scorch

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“
She gave me a look that was meant to scorch -- and it did.

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Definitions (25)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. transitive verb To burn superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of. See Synonyms at burn1.
  2. transitive verb To wither or parch with intense heat.
  3. transitive verb To destroy (land and buildings) by or as if by fire so as to leave nothing salvageable to an enemy army.
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Examples (50)

  • Not so much as a scorch-mark, madam, anywhere except in the boxroom and a bit in the passage Oh, good. —  The Rising of the Moon - Gladys Mitchell - Bradley 18: 1945
  • The lightning that flashes with so much brilliance may scorch, and does not her esprit do so?' —  Life Of Johnson, Vol. 2
  • But a shoe at a dark heat may be pressed against a properly dressed hoof long enough to scorch, and thus indicate to the farrier the portions of horn that should be lowered without appreciable injury to the hoof and to the ultimate benefit of the animal Nailing._--The horse owner should insist on the nails being driven low. —  Special Report on Diseases of the Horse
  • Thy rays warm and scorch, and becoming as clouds roar and flash with lightning and pour down showers when the season cometh. —  The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 Books 1, 2 and 3
  • I got too near the candle myself, and the scorch was pretty sharp while it lasted. —  Greatheart
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

char ·  mangle ·  sodden ·  wither ·  wet ·  crumple ·  dusty ·  grimy ·  leathery ·  greasy ·  jagged ·  blood-stained

Used in the same contextWord Family

scorch:   scorched
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English scorchen, possibly of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skorpna, to shrink, be shriveled.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English scorchen, scorgen, schorchen, scrochen, scorch; prob. an assibilated form of scorken, in other forms scorclen, scorklen, skorclen, scorkelen, scorcnen, scorch, prob. orig. shrink, from Norwegian skrokkna, shrivel, Swedish dial. skrakkla, wrinkle: see shrug, shrink. The meaning does not suit the usual derivation from Old French escorcher, escorcer, flay, skin, French écorcher, écorcer, flay, skin, fig. rasp, grate, fleece, = Spanish Portuguese escorchar = Italian scorticare, flay, from Middle Latin excorticare, also, after Roman, scorticare, strip off the bark or rind, shell, flay: see excorticate. The sense ‘skin, flay’ does not appear in the English word, and the sense ‘scorch’ does not appear in the Old French word.
 

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/skɔrtʃ/
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