parch

present singular third person parches · participle present parching · participle past parched · past parched

1. transitiveTo burn the surface of, to scorch.

   The sun today could parch cement.

2. transitiveTo roast, as dry grain.

   Ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 23:14

3. transitiveTo dry to extremity; to shrivel with heat.

   The patient’s mouth is parched from fever.

   2 more examples

   They vvould go over board vvith a Rope faſtned about them, that by drenching themſelves a vvhile in the Sea, they might eaſe the internal Heat vvhich parched them; and vvhen they ſtood any of them to ſteer the Veſſel, they vvould have their Feet in a Pail of Sea VVater to refrigerate 'em.

   1702, Cotton Mather, “[Book VI (Thaumaturgus: […]).] Chapter I. Christus Super Aquas: Relating Wonderful Sea Deliverances.”, in Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England, from Its First Planting in the Year 1620. unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698. […], London: […] Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, section VI (Sore Calamities at Sea Survived), page 5, column 2

   The last day's march was very painful, for the north wind, blowing full in their faces, parched and benumbed the men.

   1857, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, A History of All Nations, page 101

4. colloquialintransitiveTo be very thirsty.

   We're parched, hon. Could you send up an ale from the cooler?

   5 more examples

   In my haste I stumbled , and fell over one of the wounded; he groaned, and prayed me for a cup of water to cool the thirst that parched him.

   1828, George Croly, Salathiel: A Story of the Past, the Present, and the Future, page 65

   Serpents bit them, thirst parched them, Amalekites assailed them.

   1870 February 1, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “The Eagle and the Hen”, in The Sword and the Trowel, page 52

   They had no water on the wreck, and a consuming thirst parched them.

   1882, William Dean Howells, A Woman's Reason, page 245

   Whether it was the cup he drank from, or the thirst that parched him, he took no thought, but it was the sweetest drink that ever passed his lips.

   1919, David Anderson, The Blue Moon: A Tale of the Flatwoods, page 245

   That there had been certain couplings was only because in opening up tunnels of betrayal and shadows in forbidden bodies and imaginations, they were quenching the thirst for Artur that parched them all, that they all professed in limitless ardour.

   1996, Xosé Luis Méndez Ferrín, Them and Other Stories, page 159

5. archaictransitiveTo boil something slowly (Still used in Lancashire in parched peas, a type of mushy peas).
6. intransitiveTo become superficially burnt; to become sunburned.

   The locals watched, amused, as the tourists parched in the sun, having neglected to apply sunscreen or bring water.

plural parches

1. The condition of being parched.

   Yet here he is, not at the head, but somewhere toward the rear of the serpentine queue wending its way through all this parch […].

   1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 64