Sear

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /sɪə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Alternative forms

• sere
• sare

From Middle English seer, seere, from Old English sēar, sīere ("dry, sere, sear, withered, barren"), from Proto-Germanic *sauzaz ("dry"), from Proto-Indo-European *saus-, *sus- ("dry, parched"). Cognate with Dutch zoor ("dry, rough"), Low German soor ("dry"), German sohr ("parched, dried up"), Norwegian dialectal søyr ("the desiccation and death of a tree"), Lithuanian sausas ("dry").

Full definition of sear

Adjective

1. Dry; withered, especially of vegetation.

From Middle English seeren, seren, from Old English sēarian ("to become sere, to grow sear, wither, pine away"), from Proto-Germanic *sauzōną, *sauzijaną ("to become dry"). Related to Old High German sōrēn ("to wither, wilt"), Greek hauos ("dry"), Sanskrit sōsa ("drought"). The use in firearms terminology may relate to French serrer ("to grip").

Verb

1. To char, scorch, or burn the surface of something with a hot instrument.
2. To wither; to dry up.
3. (figurative) To mark permanently, as if by burning.The events of that day were seared into her memory.

Noun

1. A scar produced by searing
2. Part of a gun that retards the hammer until the trigger is pulled.

Anagrams

• Ares, ares, ARSE, arse, ears, ERAs, eras, rase, sera