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drenching

drenching

1 3.3
A heavy soaking that makes a person or thing completely wet
  • noun
  • /ˈdrɛnʧɪŋ/
translation icon : empapamiento
  • During the heavy storm, we could hear the drenching of rain hitting the roof all night.
  • drenching rain

Examples

  • I've had my share of drenchings.

  • The drenching of the Japanese cedars with oil shows that Aker is not afraid of spraying.

    Academic text (1996)
  • A second drenching was often needed to keep things cool.

    Blog text (23)
  • People ran every which way, trying to get out of the drenching.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The drenching caused widespread flooding.

    Blog text (7)
  • No thunder, just one of those long, green summer drenchings.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Above us, a steel-gray thunderhead boiled up out of nowhere, and I ran for the Venture to escape a drenching.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The children laughed and played in the garden, enjoying the drenching from the sprinklers.

  • The athletes welcomed the drenching of water from the hydration station during the hot race.

Synonyms

soaking
vsdrenching
9 2.7

An act of making something completely wet by putting it in water

focuses on causing full saturation rather than only the method used
immersion
vsdrenching
5 4.4

Being completely covered by a liquid like water

is about making things fully saturated, not only the placing under liquid
dousing
vsdrenching
3 4.9

Putting a lot of water on something so it becomes very wet

may make something fully wet without requiring full submergence
submersion
vsdrenching
1 6.2

Putting something completely under water or another liquid

is broader and can include full saturation without being entirely beneath liquid
wetting
vsdrenching
1 1.4

The act of making a surface wet

involves full saturation rather than light or partial moistening
watering
vsdrenching
1 1.0

Giving water to plants or the ground to help them grow

is about causing complete saturation, not routine supply for growth
sousing
vsdrenching
8.1

Making something very wet by covering it with water or other liquid

is the general act of making something fully wet by any method
souse
vsdrenching
9.7

A heavy soaking that makes something very wet

is the broader act of making something fully wet without force implied
soakage
vsdrenching
  • Archaic
7.7

The process of something becoming soft and full of water after sitting in liquid

refers to actively causing full saturation rather than the passive result
submerging
vsdrenching
5.0

Something sinks until it is completely covered by water

is concerned with causing full saturation rather than the sinking action

Antonyms

1 3.2

A process in which water leaves something until it is no longer wet

How Wet

saturation
4 4.7
drenching
1 3.3
soaking
9 2.7
wetting
1 1.4
dampening
14 3.2
moistening
1 2.3

Surface Forms

drenching singular
drenchings plural

Morphology

drenching = drench (transparent) = drench + ing

A straightforward nominalization/gerund formed from the verb 'drench' with the productive suffix '-ing', meaning the act or result of drenching.

Etymology

Drenching comes from the old verb drench, which meant 'to make drink' or 'to drown', so imagine pouring so much water on something that it is forced to 'drink' and becomes completely wet.