sear Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb make very hot and dry
    scorch.
    • The heat scorched the countryside
  2. verb become superficially burned
    scorch; singe.
    • my eyebrows singed when I bent over the flames
  3. verb burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color
    char; blacken; scorch.
    • The cook blackened the chicken breast
    • The fire charred the ceiling above the mantelpiece
    • the flames scorched the ceiling
  4. verb cause to wither or parch from exposure to heat
    parch.
    • The sun parched the earth
  5. adjective satellite (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture
    withered; shriveled; sere; shrivelled; dried-up.
    • dried-up grass
    • the desert was edged with sere vegetation
    • shriveled leaves on the unwatered seedlings
    • withered vines

WordNet

Sear, Sere adjective (Also<
  • Sear
  • Sere
)
Etymology
OE. seer, AS. seár (assumed) fr. seárian to wither; akin to D. zoor dry, LG. soor, OHG. soren to to wither, Gr. to parch, to dry, Skr. &cced;ush (for sush) to dry, to wither, Zend hush to dry. Cf. Austere, Sorrel, a.
Definitions
  1. Dry; withered; no longer green; -- applied to leaves. Milton.
    I have lived long enough; my way of life Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf. Shak.
Sear transitive verb
Etymology
OE.seeren, AS. seárian. See Sear, a.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Seared ; present participle & verbal noun Searing
Definitions
  1. To wither; to dry up. Shak.
  2. To burn (the surface of) to dryness and hardness; to cauterize; to expose to a degree of heat such as changes the color or the hardness and texture of the surface; to scorch; to make callous; as, to sear the skin or flesh. Also used figuratively.
    I'm seared with burning steel. Rowe.
    It was in vain that the amiable divine tried to give salutary pain to that seared conscience. Macaulay.
    The discipline of war, being a discipline in destruction of life, is a discipline in callousness. Whatever sympathies exist are seared. H. Spencer.
    ✍ Sear is allied to scorch in signification; but it is applied primarily to animal flesh, and has special reference to the effect of heat in marking the surface hard. Scorch is applied to flesh, cloth, or any other substance, and has no reference to the effect of hardness.
Sear noun
Etymology
F. serre a grasp, pressing, fr. L. sera. See Serry.
Definitions
  1. The catch in a gunlock by which the hammer is held cocked or half cocked.

Webster 1913