From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Scorch \Scorch\ (sk[^o]rch), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scorched}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Scorching}.] [OE. scorchen, probably akin to
scorcnen; cf. Norw. skrokken shrunk up, skrekka, skr["o]kka,
to shrink, to become wrinkled up, dial. Sw. skr[*a]kkla to
wrinkle (see {Shrug}); but perhaps influenced by OF.
escorchier to strip the bark from, to flay, to skin, F.
['e]corcher, LL. excorticare; L. ex from + cortex, -icis,
bark (cf. {Cork}); because the skin falls off when scorched.]
1. 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.
[1913 Webster]
Summer drouth or sing[`e]d air
Never scorch thy tresses fair. --Milton.
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2. To affect painfully with heat, or as with heat; to dry up
with heat; to affect as by heat.
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Lashed by mad rage, and scorched by brutal fires.
--Prior.
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3. To burn; to destroy by, or as by, fire.
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Power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
--Rev. xvi. 8.
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The fire that scorches me to death. --Dryden.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
scorched
adj 1: dried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight; "a
vast desert all adust"; "land lying baked in the heat";
"parched soil"; "the earth was scorched and bare";
"sunbaked salt flats" [syn: {adust}, {baked}, {parched},
{scorched}, {sunbaked}]
2: having everything destroyed so nothing is left salvageable by
an enemy; "Sherman's scorched earth policy"
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