sear

sear ¹  (sîr)

v. seared, sear·ing, sears

v.tr.

1. To char, scorch, or burn the surface of with or as if with a hot instrument. See Synonyms at burn¹.

2. To cause to dry up and wither.

v.intr.

To become withered or dried up.

n.

A condition, such as a scar, produced by searing.

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[Middle English seren, from Old English sarian, to wither, from sar, withered.]

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sear ²  (sîr)

n.

The catch in a gunlock that keeps the hammer halfcocked or fully cocked.

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[Probably French serre, something that grasps, from Old French, lock, from serrer, to grasp, from Vulgar Latin *serrre, from Late Latin serre, to bolt, from Latin sera, bar, bolt; see ser-² in Indo-European roots.]

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sear ³  (sîr)

adj.

Variant of sere¹.

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sear

Verb

1. to scorch or burn the surface of

2. to cause to wither [Old English sēarian to become withered]

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	sear - make very hot and dry; "The heat scorched the countryside" scorch heat, heat up - make hot or hotter; "the sun heats the oceans"; "heat the water on the stove" sizzle - burn or sear with a sizzling sound; "The fat sizzled in the pan"
	2.	sear - become superficially burned; "my eyebrows singed when I bent over the flames" scorch, singe burn, combust - undergo combustion; "Maple wood burns well"
	3.	sear - 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" blacken, char, scorch cookery, cooking, preparation - the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat; "cooking can be a great art"; "people are needed who have experience in cookery"; "he left the preparation of meals to his wife" burn - burn with heat, fire, or radiation; "The iron burnt a hole in my dress" singe, swinge - burn superficially or lightly; "I singed my eyebrows"
	4.	sear - cause to wither or parch from exposure to heat; "The sun parched the earth" parch dry, dry out - remove the moisture from and make dry; "dry clothes"; "dry hair"
Adj.	1.	sear - (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" dried-up, sere, shriveled, shrivelled, withered botany, flora, vegetation - all the plant life in a particular region or period; "Pleistocene vegetation"; "the flora of southern California"; "the botany of China" dry - free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet; "dry land"; "dry clothes"; "a dry climate"; "dry splintery boards"; "a dry river bed"; "the paint is dry"

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sear

verb wither, burn, blight, brand, scorch, sizzle, shrivel, cauterize, desiccate, dry up or out