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searingmore about searing

searing

 

  1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Sear  \Sear\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Seared};  p.  pr  &  vb  n. 
  {Searing}.]  [OE.  seeren  AS  se['a]rian.  See  {Sear},  a.] 
  1.  To  wither;  to  dry  up  --Shak. 
 
  2.  To  burn  (the  surface  of)  to  dryness  and  hardness;  to 
  cauterize;  to  expose  to  a  degree  of  heat  such  as  changes 
  the  color  or  the  hardness  and  texture  of  the  surface;  to 
  scorch;  to  make  callous;  as  to  sear  the  skin  or  flesh. 
  Also  used  figuratively. 
 
  I'm  seared  with  burning  steel.  --Rowe. 
 
  It  was  in  vain  that  the  amiable  divine  tried  to  give 
  salutary  pain  to  that  seared  conscience.  --Macaulay. 
 
  The  discipline  of  war,  being  a  discipline  in 
  destruction  of  life,  is  a  discipline  in  callousness. 
  Whatever  sympathies  exist  are  seared.  --H.  Spencer. 
 
  Note:  Sear  is  allied  to  scorch  in  signification;  but  it  is 
  applied  primarily  to  animal  flesh,  and  has  special 
  reference  to  the  effect  of  heat  in  marking  the  surface 
  hard.  Scorch  is  applied  to  flesh,  cloth,  or  any  other 
  substance,  and  has  no  reference  to  the  effect  of 
  hardness. 
 
  {To  sear},  to  close  by  searing.  ``Cherish  veins  of  good 
  humor,  and  sear  up  those  of  ill.''  --Sir  W.  Temple.




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