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Glite Dictionary
to parch the fields

to parch the fields

7.2
To make fields very dry and brown from strong sun
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : secar los campos
  • A prolonged drought can parch the fields, leaving crops withered and brown.

Examples

  • Farmers worried that another week of sun would parch the fields beyond recovery.

  • If we don't get rain soon, the relentless heat might parch the fields completely.

  • Don't parch the fields!

  • The sun can parch the fields quickly during summer.

  • A prolonged drought can parch the fields, leaving crops withered and brown.

  • If we don't get rain soon, the relentless heat might parch the fields completely.

  • The sun can parch the fields quickly during summer.

Synonyms

to parch
vsto parch the fields
1 7.0

Make something very dry from heat or sun

dry agricultural land specifically because of intense sun heat

Antonyms

to water
81 1.0

To give plants or animals something to drink

How Dry

to scorch
31 4.8
to parch the fields
7.2

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

parch + the + field

The meaning 'to dry out fields due to intense heat' is directly and compositionally derived from 'parch' (to dry using heat) and 'fields' (plots of land); a learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE. This is a literal verb + object construction with no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, making it immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Parch the fields paints a picture of the very hot sun baking the fields until the ground and crops are dry and brown. So it means 'to dry out fields because of a very hot sun'.