desiccate
[verb]
Synonyms: dry, dehydrate, exsiccate, parch, sear, devitalize, dry up

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Contrasted words: brighten, enliven
Related Words: deplete, drain, exhaust, divest, decay, fade, shrivel, wither, wizen

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

desiccate ppl adjective & noun. ['dɛsɪkeɪt] LME.
[from Latin desiccatus pa. pple, formed as DESICCATE verb: see -ATE².]
A. ppl adjective. Desiccated, dried. arch. LME.
b. noun. A desiccated substance or product. E20.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲

desiccate verb. ['dɛsɪkeɪt] L16.
[Latin desiccat- pa. ppl stem of desiccare, from de- DE- 1 + siccare make dry, from siccus dry: see -ATE³.]
1. verb trans. Remove the moisture from, dry up, (now esp. foodstuffs for preservation); fig. deprive of energy or feeling, make impersonal. Freq. as desiccated ppl adjective. L16.
■ Bacon Wine helpeth to digest and desiccate the moisture.
■ R. H. Tawney Piety imprisoned in a shrivelled mass of desiccated formulae.
■ J. Grigson Whip the cream and fold it in, with a good tablespoon of desiccated coconut.
■ B. Bainbridge So desiccated by age that a smile might have broken her into little pieces.

2. verb intrans. Become dry, dry up. rare. L17.
Nature The lake is now desiccating.

► Formerly stressed on 2nd syll.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲