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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scorch \Scorch\ (sk[^o]rch), verb (used with an object) [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.
Summer drouth or sing['e]d air Never scorch thy tresses fair. --Milton.
2. 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. --Prior.
3. To burn; to destroy by, or as by, fire.
Power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. --Rev. xvi. 8.
The fire that scorches me to death. --Dryden.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scorch \Scorch\, verb (used without an object)
1. 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. --Mortimer.
2. 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. --Hawthorne.
3. To ride or drive at great, usually at excessive, speed; -- applied chiefly to automobilists and bicyclists. [Colloq.] -- {Scorch"er}, noun [Colloq.]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
scorch
noun
1: a surface burn [syn: {singe}]
2: a plant disease that produces a browning or scorched appearance of plant tissues
3: a discoloration caused by heat
verb
1: make very hot and dry; "The heat scorched the countryside" [syn: {sear}]
2: become superficially burned; "my eyebrows singed when I bent over the flames" [syn: {sear}, {singe}]
3: destroy completely by or as if by fire; "The wildfire scorched the forest and several homes"; "the invaders scorched the land"
4: 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" [syn: {char}, {blacken}]
5: become scorched or singed under intense heat or dry conditions; "The exposed tree scorched in the hot sun"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
224 Moby Thesaurus words for "scorch": abrade, abrasion, air-dry, anhydrate, assail, attack, attaint, bake, ball the jack, bark, barrel, be in heat, bedaub, besmear, besmirch, besmoke, bestain, blacken, blaze, blemish, blister, bloody, bloom, blot, blur, boil, boom, bowl along, brand, break, breeze, breeze along, broil, brush, burn, burn in, burn off, cast, castigate, cauterize, chafe, char, check, chip, choke, claw, clip, coal, combust, concussion, cook, crack, crackle, craze, cupel, cure, cut, cut along, darken, daub, dehumidify, dehydrate, desiccate, dirty, discolor, drain, dry, evaporate, excoriate, exsiccate, fire, flame, flame up, flare, flare up, flash burn, flay, fleet, flicker, flit, flush, fly, fly low, foot, found, fracture, fray, frazzle, fret, fry, fustigate, gall, gash, gasp, glow, go fast, highball, hurt, incandesce, incise, incision, injure, injury, insolate, kiln, lacerate, laceration, lash, lesion, maim, make knots, make mincemeat of, mark, mat burn, maul, melt, mortal wound, mummify, mutilate, mutilation, nip, outstrip the wind, oxidate, oxidize, pant, parch, pierce, plot, pour it on, puncture, pyrolyze, radiate heat, rend, rent, rip, roast, rub, run, rupture, savage, scald, scarify, scathe, scotch, scourge, scrape, scratch, scuff, sear, second-degree burn, seethe, shimmer with heat, shrivel, simmer, singe, sizzle, skim, skin, skin alive, slash, slit, slubber, slur, smear, smirch, smoke, smolder, smother, soak up, soil, solder, sore, spark, speed, sponge, sprain, stab, stab wound, stain, steam, stew, stick, stifle, stigmatize, storm along, strain, suffocate, sun, sun-dry, sunburn, sunscald, swab, sweat, sweep, swelter, swinge, taint, tarnish, tear, tear along, third-degree burn, thunder along, toast, torrefy, towel, trauma, traumatize, trounce, vesicate, vulcanize, weazen, weld, whisk, whiz, windburn, wipe, wither, wizen, wound, wounds immedicable, wrench, zing, zip, zoom
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