Parch means to make something very dry, usually by heat or sun. People often talk about soil or plants when they say this. It means water is taken away by heat.
The hot sun will parch the soil quickly.
The heat can parch your lips if you stay outside.
This meaning means to feel very dry or thirsty. It can be about people, animals, or plants. When something parches, it loses water and feels dry.
My throat is parched after the run.
The plants parched under the hot sun.
In cooking, to parch means to heat food such as grains or beans without oil or water. This dries or lightly roasts the food to change its flavor or texture.
She parched the grains before grinding them.
Farmers parch beans to improve their taste.
As a noun, parch means a state of dryness in nature. It is often used for land or soil that has become dry, usually from heat or lack of rain.
The parch of the land was bad this year.
Farmers suffered from parch during summer.
This meaning is about living things suffering from lack of water and extreme heat. It shows a hard condition when heat dries out the body or land.
The hikers parched after hours in the desert.
The animals parched under the blazing sun.
Parch can mean to dry or harden paper-like materials by heat, making them brittle or fragile. This use is common in historical or technical contexts with parchment or ancient papers.
The ancient scrolls were parched by the desert sun.
Too much heat can parch old documents.
