Other forms: parched, parching
To parch is to dry something out completely with heat. Parched earth, parched with thirst, the sun parched it.
It is used of ground and of throats, and parched is far commoner than the verb. Parched land sheds water rather than absorbing it, which is why heavy rain after a drought causes floods. The origin of the word is uncertain.
1verbparchTo dry something out completely with heat.
“The summer sun parched the fields until the grass turned brown.”
parch is a drying.
Middle English parchen, of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of a verb meaning to roast.
Middle English
parchen
English, today
parch
Built from
From Middle English parchen, paarchen (“to parch; dry; roast”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant of Middle English perchen (“to roast”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA