SEAR

sere, dried-up, sear, shriveled, shrivelled, withered

(adjective) (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture; “dried-up grass”; “the desert was edged with sere vegetation”; “shriveled leaves on the unwatered seedlings”; “withered vines”

parch, sear

(verb) cause to wither or parch from exposure to heat; “The sun parched the earth”

sear, scorch

(verb) make very hot and dry; “The heat scorched the countryside”

char, blacken, sear, scorch

(verb) burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color; “The cook blackened the chicken breast”; “The fire charred the ceiling above the mantelpiece”; “the flames scorched the ceiling”

scorch, sear, singe

(verb) become superficially burned; “my eyebrows singed when I bent over the flames”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Adjective

sear (comparative searer or more sear, superlative searest or most sear)

Dry; withered, especially of vegetation.

Etymology 2

Verb

sear (third-person singular simple present sears, present participle searing, simple past and past participle seared)

(transitive) To char, scorch, or burn the surface of (something) with a hot instrument.

To wither; to dry up.

(transitive, figurative) To make callous or insensible.

(transitive, figurative) To mark permanently, as if by burning.

Noun

sear (plural sears)

A scar produced by searing

Part of a gun that retards the hammer until the trigger is pulled.

Anagrams

• AREs, ARSE, Ares, EARs, ERAs, Ersa, SERA, ares, arse, ears, eras, rase, reas, sare, sera

Source: Wiktionary


Sear, Sere, a.

Definition: [OE. seer, AS. seár (assumed) fr. seárian to wither; akin to D. zoor dry, LG. soor, OHG. soren to to wither, Gr. sush) to dry, to wither, Zend hush to dry. sq. root152. Cf. Austere, Sorrel, a.] 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, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Seared; p. pr. & vb. n. Searing.] Etym: [OE.seeren, AS. seárian. See Sear, a.]

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.

Note: 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. To sear, to close by searing. "Cherish veins of good humor, and sear up those of ill." Sir W. Temple.

Sear, n. Etym: [F. serre a grasp, pressing, fr. L. sera. See Serry.]

Definition: The catch in a gunlock by which the hammer is held cocked or half cocked. Sear spring, the spring which causes the sear to catch in the notches by which the hammer is held.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee starts as a yellow berry, changes into a red berry, and then is picked by hand to harvest. The red berry is de-shelled through a water soaking process and what’s left inside is the green coffee bean. This bean then dries in the sun for 3-5 days, where it is then packed and ready for sale.

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