seared

verb (used with object)

1. to burn or char the surface of: She seared the steak to seal in the juices.
2. to mark with a branding iron.
3. to burn or scorch injuriously or painfully: He seared his hand on a hot steam pipe.
4. to make callous or unfeeling; harden: The hardship of her youth has seared her emotionally.
5. to dry up or wither; parch.

verb (used without object)

6. to become dry or withered, as vegetation.

noun

7. a mark or scar made by searing.

adjective

8. sere1.

verb (tr)

1. to scorch or burn the surface of
2. to brand with a hot iron
3. to cause to wither or dry up
4. rare to make callous or unfeeling

noun

5. a mark caused by searing

adjective

6. poetic dried up

noun

1. the catch in the lock of a small firearm that holds the hammer or firing pin cocked

v.Old English searian (intransitive) “dry up, to wither,” from Proto-Germanic *saurajan (cf. Middle Dutch soor “dry,” Old High German soren “become dry”), from root of sear “dried up, withered” (see sere). Meaning “cause to wither” is from early 15c. Meaning “to brand, to burn by hot iron” is recorded from c.1400, originally especially of cauterizing wounds; figurative use is from 1580s. Related: Seared; searing.