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Glite Dictionary
to parch

to parch

1 7.0
Make something very dry from heat or sun
  • verb
  • /pɑrtʃt/
translation icon : secar
  • Midsummer weather, for instance, rapidly parches the surface of a leaf fluttering in the warm breeze, and with frequent thunderstorms come torrents of rain that easily wash spores out of the canopy.
  • parching droughts
  • parched throat
  • parching sun

Examples

  • It's perfect for things like Ziploc bags, cling film, tinfoil, parch from paper.

  • Well, he can sit out in the sun and parch for all I care!

    Nashville (1975)

  • Lon, you take that water bag so you won't parch.

    Hud (1963)

  • Even in those days, the sun used to parch Oklahoma and Kansas, and the rains were fickle.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • He spent the day there, just dying from the heat, parching from the heat, thirsting from the heat.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • It matters not how many ranges, rivers, or parching dusty ways may lie between you; it is now yours forever.

    Academic text (2007)

  • When the apocalypse parches our rivers and exhumes our zombies, will design matter?

    Blog text (17)

  • The endless why's and what's and greedy thirst for verbal exchange until the throat parches and the voice box flags in exhaustion.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The intense sun can quickly parch the plants if they are not watered.

  • Prolonged exposure to the heat will parch your skin, making it feel dry and tight.

Synonyms

to dry
vsto parch
570 1.0

To become free of water or wetness

focuses on removing moisture by heat or sun until the item is very arid
to sear
vsto parch
76 6.1

To burn something quickly with very strong heat until it turns brown or black

is gentler, drying by heat or sun rather than burning
to dry up
vsto parch
19 2.7

To lose all water or moisture so it has none left

describes drying caused by direct heat or sunlight rather than general loss
to desiccate
vsto parch
  • Specialized
12 9.0

To dry something so it does not go bad

focuses on drying by heat or sun rather than preserving intent
to dry out
vsto parch
11 2.4

To become dry or make something no longer wet

implies intense drying by heat or sun rather than simple moisture loss
to dehydrate
vsto parch
5 4.1

To lose too much water and become very dry

is drying specifically by heat or sun to make something very dry
to freeze-dry
vsto parch
  • Specialized
1 4.4

To keep food for a long time by freezing it and then removing its water

uses heat or sun to dry rather than freezing and vacuum preservation
to overdry
vsto parch
1 5.4

To make something too dry by removing too much water

aims to make something very dry by heat or sun, not merely overdoing it
to exsiccate
vsto parch
  • Specialized
9.9

To remove all water from something so it stays dry

stresses drying by heat or sun exposure rather than any method

Antonyms

to hydrate
34 3.3

To add water to something or to take water into the body

to moisten
7 3.0

To make something a little wet

Phrasal Verbs

to parch the fields
7.2

To make fields very dry and brown from strong sun

How Dry

to desiccate
  • Specialized
12 9.0
to parch
1 7.0
to dry
570 1.0
to dry out
11 2.4

Surface Forms

parch infinitive
parched past
parched past participle
parching present participle
parches third person singular

Etymology

Parch comes from an old French word meaning 'to dry'. A helpful image is the hot sun 'parching' the land until it looks like dry leather or parchment, so to parch something is to make it very dry.