Hypertext Webster Gateway: "parching"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Parch \Parch\ (p[aum]rch), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Parched}; p. pr.
& vb. n. {Parching}.] [OE. perchen to pierce, hence used of a
piercing heat or cold, OF. perchier, another form of percier,
F. percer. See {Pierce}.]
1. To burn the surface of; to scorch; to roast over the fire,
as dry grain; as, to parch the skin; to parch corn.
Ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn. --Lev.
xxiii. 14.
2. To dry to extremity; to shrivel with heat; as, the mouth
is parched from fever.
The ground below is parched. --Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Parching \Parch"ing\ (p[aum]rch"[i^]ng), a.
Scorching; burning; drying. ``Summer's parching heat.''
--Shak. -- {Parch"ing*ly}, adv.
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