parch
UK/pɑːtʃ//pɑɹt͡ʃ/
parch verb: to burn the surface of, to scorch.
Verb
parch (third-person singular simple present parches, present participle parching, simple past and past participle parched)
- To burn the surface of, to scorch.
- The sun today could parch cement.
- To 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
- To dry to extremity; to shrivel with heat.
- The patient’s mouth is parched from fever.
- 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...
- To be very thirsty.
- We're parched, hon. Could you send up an ale from the cooler?
- 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
- To boil something slowly (Still used in Lancashire in parched peas, a type of mushy peas).
- To 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.
Noun
parch (plural parches)
- 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
parch meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
parch in Tamil
- to parch, toast
- பொரி pori
parch in Urdu
- جھلسنا, بھوننا, جھلسانا
parch in Malayalam
- വരണ്ടതാക്കുക, ചൂടാക്കുക, വറുക്കുക, പൊരിക്കുക
parch in Kannada
- ಹುರಿ, ಒಣಗಿಸು, ಬಾಯಾರ್, ಬಾಯಾರು, ಬಾಯಾರಿಸು, ಬಾಯಾಱು
More languagesFewer languages
- parch in Sanskrit
- शोषयति śoṣayati
- parch in Assamese
- ভাজা bhaza, ভাজ bhaz
Examples of parch in a sentence
- 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:
- 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:
Forms of parch
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | parches |
| present participle | parching |
| past participle | parched |
| past | parched |
| Noun | |
| plural | parches |
Origin of parch
From Middle English parchen, paarchen (“to parch; dry; roast”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant of Middle English perchen (“to roast”).
Words formed from parch
Words that rhyme with parch
Questions about parch
- What does parch mean?
- Parch means to burn the surface of, to scorch.
- What is parch in Tamil?
- Parch in Tamil is பொரி (pori). See Parch meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use parch in a sentence?
- The last day's march was very painful, for the north wind, blowing full in their faces, parched and benumbed the men.
- What part of speech is parch?
- Parch can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce parch?
- Parch is pronounced /pɑɹt͡ʃ/ (US).
- What is the past tense of parch?
- The past tense of parch is parched.
Words near parch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: parch (page history and authors); பொரி (Tamil) (page history and authors); parch (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); parch (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); parch (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ভাজ (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-parch.ogg.
Cite this entry: “parch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/parch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.