sear
/sɪɹ/ verb C2- To char, scorch, or burn the surface of (something) with a hot instrument. · He likes to sear his steaks while maintaining rareness at the center.
- To wither; to dry up.
- To make callous or insensible.
- To mark permanently, as if by burning. · The events of that day were seared into her memory.
He/she/it sears · Past seared · Past participle seared · -ing form searing
Verb forms
- Base form
- sear
- He/she/it
- sears
- Past
- seared
- Past participle
- seared
- -ing form
- searing
From the library
“It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is seared into my memory.
The Birch Path was a canopy of yellow and the ferns were sear and brown all along it.
A large face, seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.
I felt a sudden hot sear as if a red-hot iron had been pressed to my thigh.
Other matches
Learn sear in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.