sear

UK/sɪə̯(ɹ)/US/sɪɹ/

verbB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,742 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: sears, searing, seared

To sear is to brown the outside of meat fast in a very hot pan. Sear the steak, seared on both sides, a good sear.

The browning is the Maillard reaction and it builds flavour that no other step provides — the old claim that searing seals in juices is false and has been for decades. The pan must be hot and the meat dry. Note that the Old English word meant dry or withered, which is the older sense.

Definitions of sear

1verbsearTo brown the outside of meat fast in a very hot pan.B2+
“Sear the steak in a very hot pan until it's brown on both sides.”
- Said"Sear the steak first, then it can rest while I finish the sauce."
- WrittenHe seared the tuna for twenty seconds a face and served it almost raw.
- UsedSear in a dry, smoking pan; oil the meat, not the metal.
- ContrastSear, not fry. Frying cooks a thing through; searing only browns the outside and leaves the inside alone. fry →
- Not thisCooking a chop all the way to the middle is not searing it. Sear is the crust only.
- Exchange"How long do I sear it?""A minute each side. Then leave it."
- SimplySear the meat. The outside goes brown fast.
Patternsear + noun (steak, tuna, scallops) · seared + noun · sear on both sides · a searing heat

sear is a browning.

Remember it

SEAR → you can HEAR it hit the pan

Lay the meat in a very hot pan and you hear it at once — a loud hiss — as the outside turns brown in seconds.

hooks ontohear

Where it comes from

Old English sear means dry or withered, from a Germanic root meaning dry. The cooking sense came from scorching.

Proto-Indo-European
*sh₂ews- — dry, parched
Proto-Germanic
*sauzaz — dry
Proto-West Germanic
*sauʀ(ī)
Old English
sēar
Middle English
sere
English, today
sear

Built from

sīere · Old English — dry, sere, sear, withered, barren

From Middle English sere, seer, seere, from Old English sēar, sīere (“dry, sere, sear, withered, barren”), from Proto-West Germanic sauʀ(ī), from Proto-Germanic sauzaz (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European sh₂ews- (“dry, parched”) (also reconstructed as h₂sews-). Cognate with Dutch zoor (“dry, rough”), Low German soor (“dry”), German sohr (“parched, dried up”), dialectal Norwegian søyr (“the desiccation and death of a tree”), Lithuanian saũsas (“dry”), Ukrainian сухий (“dry”), Polish suchy (“dry”), Homeric Ancient Greek αὖος (“dry”). a doublet of sere and sare.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Definitions of sear

1verbsearTo brown the outside of meat fast in a very hot pan.B2+

“Sear the steak in a very hot pan until it's brown on both sides.”

Said"Sear the steak first, then it can rest while I finish the sauce."
WrittenHe seared the tuna for twenty seconds a face and served it almost raw.
UsedSear in a dry, smoking pan; oil the meat, not the metal.
ContrastSear, not fry. Frying cooks a thing through; searing only browns the outside and leaves the inside alone. fry →
Not thisCooking a chop all the way to the middle is not searing it. Sear is the crust only.
Exchange"How long do I sear it?""A minute each side. Then leave it."
SimplySear the meat. The outside goes brown fast.

Patternsear + noun (steak, tuna, scallops) · seared + noun · sear on both sides · a searing heat

sear is a browning.