SCORCH • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Scorch

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/skɔrtʃ/ Listen

verb

Scorch v. t. (past & past part. scorched; pres. part. scorching)

To burn superficially; to parch, or shrivel, the surface of, by heat; to subject to so much heat as changes color and texture without consuming; as, to scorch linen. "Summer drouth or singèd air Never scorch thy tresses fair."

To affect painfully with heat, or as with heat; to dry up with heat; to affect as by heat. "Lashed by mad rage, and scorched by brutal fires."

To burn; to destroy by, or as by, fire. "Power was given unto him to scorch men with fire." "The fire that scorches me to death."

Scorch v. i.

To be burnt on the surface; to be parched; to be dried up. "Scatter a little mungy straw or fern amongst your seedlings, to prevent the roots from scorching."

To burn or be burnt. "He laid his long forefinger on the scarlet letter, which forthwith seemed to scorch into Hester's breast, as if it had been red hot."

To ride or drive at great, usually at excessive, speed; applied chiefly to automobilists and bicyclists. (Colloq.)

See images of 'Scorch'

Etymology of 'Scorch'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Scorch" Quotes from Famous Books

... "and I have need of some distraction just now. This evening I mean to amuse myself. To-morrow we shall storm the fortress of Del Valle with all our force; and may the devil scorch me, if I leave one stone of it ...

— The Tiger Hunter • Mayne Reid

... preserve him from injury, if he be guiltless. He carries the iron for nine yards, after which his hands are sealed up in a linen cloth and examined at the end of three days. 'If he be found clear of scorch or scar, glory to God.' Lockhart calls the service 'one of the most extraordinary records of the craft, the audacity, and ...

— Modern Mythology • Andrew Lang

... bottle of rye whisky from beneath the mattress of his bed. Without waiting to procure a glass he withdrew the cork, and, thrusting the neck of the bottle into his mouth, took a long "pull" at the contents. After a moment he removed it, and gasped with the scorch of the powerful liquor. Then he took another long drink. Finally he replaced the cork and returned the bottle ...

— The Law-Breakers • Ridgwell Cullum

... could see that never before had the lady of Linda Vista made herself fatigue by a plantation ride there, and I think myself he had a scare that she see too much! At the first when Dona Dolores had speech with him, it was easy to see he blamed me, and his eyes looked once as if to scorch me with fire. Then she pointed to the child beside her, and gave some orders, and he sent a guard with Tula through another gate into a great corral where men and women were packed like cattle. Senor, I have been in ...

— The Treasure Trail - A Romance of the Land of Gold and Sunshine • Marah Ellis Ryan

... of a steamer is her machinery, and at all hours of the day men may be seen polishing it with balls of cotton "waste," till it shines like silver; but if you venture to touch the glittering surface, you find it burning hot, and scorch your fingers pretty smartly. One day Frank was polishing the broad round top of the cylinder, protected by a thick rope mat from the burning metal, when Monkey, sneaking up behind, suddenly jerked away the mat, throwing him right on to the hot surface. Smarting ...

— Harper's Young People, March 23, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

More quotes...