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searing

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sear

1[seer]
–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. sere 1 .

Origin:
bef. 900; (adj.) ME sere, OE sēar; c. D zoor; (v.) ME seren, OE sēarian, deriv. of sēar


1. See burn 1 .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sear 1   (sîr)   
v.   seared, sear·ing, sears

v.   tr.
  1. To char, scorch, or burn the surface of with or as if with a hot instrument. See Synonyms at burn1.

  2. To cause to dry up and wither.

v.   intr.
To become withered or dried up.
n.  A condition, such as a scar, produced by searing.

[Middle English seren, from Old English sēarian, to wither, from sēar, withered.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

sear  (v.)
O.E. searian "dry up, to whither," from P.Gmc. *saurajan, from root of sear "dried up, withered" (see sere). Meaning "to brand, to burn by hot iron" is recorded from 1530; fig. use is from 1582.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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