parched

[pahrcht]

adjective

1. extremely or completely dried, as by heat, sun, or wind.

   Dry shrubs cover parts of this parched valley in the South Hebron Hills.

2. very thirsty.

   After each shift in the ship’s engine room, I was dead tired and totally parched, needing large amounts of water.

3. (of peas, beans, grains, etc.) slightly toasted or roasted.

   The village folk customarily have one meal a day of parched grains, so there is always a crowd around the old widow’s oven.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of parch.

Other Word Forms

• parchedly adverb
• parchedness noun
• unparched adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of parched¹

parch ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Their frontyard was pathetic; basically 1,500 square feet of weeds and parched patches of Bermuda lawn.

From Los Angeles Times

From Ayia he was transferred to a camp outside Athens known as Amygdaleza, rows of grey prefabricated huts in a parched clearing surrounded by tall fences and security cameras.

From BBC

The torrential downpours come days after a third UK heatwave of the year that parched swathes of the UK and led to several hosepipe bans being declared.

From BBC

"This should all be underwater," he says, motioning towards the parched expanse of exposed white rocks.

From BBC

Ennis drove to the area just outside Kettleman City on a recent afternoon, stopping on the roadside by a field of parched dirt, sparse grass and shrubs.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• arid 
• scorched www.thesaurus.com
• thirsty 
• withered www.thesaurus.com