drench

1 of 2

verb

drenched; drenching; drenches

transitive verb

1
: to wet thoroughly (as by soaking or immersing in liquid)
2
: to soak or cover thoroughly with liquid that falls or is precipitated
3
: to fill or cover completely as if by soaking or precipitation
was drenched in furs and diamondsRichard Brautigan
4
a
: to administer a drench to (an animal)
b
archaic : to force to drink
drencher noun

drench

2 of 2

noun

1
: a poisonous or medicinal drink
specifically : a large dose of medicine mixed with liquid and put down the throat of an animal
2
a
: something that drenches
b
: a quantity sufficient to drench or saturate
Choose the Right Synonym for drench

soak, saturate, drench, steep, impregnate mean to permeate or be permeated with a liquid.

soak implies usually prolonged immersion as for softening or cleansing.

soak the garment in soapy water

saturate implies a resulting effect of complete absorption until no more liquid can be held.

a saturated sponge

drench implies a thorough wetting by something that pours down or is poured.

clothes drenched by a cloudburst

steep suggests either the extraction of an essence (as of tea leaves) by the liquid or the imparting of a quality (such as a color) to the thing immersed.

steep the tea for five minutes

impregnate implies a thorough interpenetration of one thing by another.

a cake strongly impregnated with brandy

Examples of drench in a Sentence

Verb we were drenched by the sudden rainstorm when using the carpet shampooer, wet but do not drench the carpet
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
There’s videos and pictures of me standing in video village, helping set up other shots, holding the script and switching some things around, all drenched in blood. Daniel D'addario, Variety, 18 Mar. 2024 Choosing, say, cooling fabrics like eucalyptus or linen can be the difference between sleeping sweat-free and waking up drenched in sweat to falling asleep within 15 minutes of your head hitting the pillow. Anamaria Glavan, Allure, 16 Mar. 2024 Rather than soak the rich, the tax would drench businesses and fill a slush-fund reservoir for ... Micky Horstman, National Review, 13 Mar. 2024 By this time of the year, rain should be drenching large swaths of the Amazon rainforest. Manuela Andreoni, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2024 The Knott’s Boysenberry Festival once again brings more than 80 dishes to the park drizzled, dipped and drenched in the signature fruit that started it all more than 100 years ago. Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register, 8 Mar. 2024 Atlanta faces a significant flood threat as severe thunderstorms and drenching rainfall focus on the region. Mary Gilbert, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024 What were officials doing during this mass drenching while newspapers and TV showed pictures of mudslides and other problems of the housed? Thomas Elias, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024 The latest storms have drenched Southern California early this week but are expected to largely bypass Arizona, where temperatures reached 82 degrees on Tuesday, the warmest day of the year so far. Caralin Nunes, The Arizona Republic, 21 Feb. 2024
Noun
This can be done by using a systemic insecticide through a soil drench. Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 16 Mar. 2024 Use this deep shade as an all-over wall color that makes a stylish statement, on kitchen cabinets paired with brass hardware for a modern look, or to color drench a room for a moody coziness. Maria Sabella, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2023 The easiest way is to apply a systemic insecticide as a soil drench. Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 27 Aug. 2023 For fire ants, apply beneficial nematodes and drench with one of the orange oil mound drench products or spinosad products. Howard Garrett, Dallas News, 28 June 2021 Just minutes from the magic, families can chill out at Surfside Waterpark and enjoy its 400-gallon drench bucket, slides, and an oversized 17-person hot tub. Carly Caramanna, Travel + Leisure, 7 May 2023 Water drench appropriately describes what these eye masks do to your under eyes. Cristina Montemayor, Men's Health, 28 Jan. 2023 The gooey grime changes and shifts throughout as precipitation and bombing fallout drench the settings in various sequences — to say nothing of the ghastly effects of war on the human body, depicted with unflinching detail and fidelity. Partner Content, Variety, 29 Dec. 2022 It’s the perfect wash to pop in your gym bag for cleansing after even the most drench-inducing workouts. Grooming Playbook, The Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Sep. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'drench.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English drencan; akin to Old English drincan to drink

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4b

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of drench was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near drench

Cite this Entry

“Drench.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drench. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

drench

verb
ˈdrench
: to wet thoroughly

Medical Definition

drench

1 of 2 noun
: a poisonous or medicinal drink
specifically : a large dose of medicine mixed with liquid and put down the throat of an animal

drench

2 of 2 transitive verb
: to administer a drench to (an animal)

More from Merriam-Webster on drench

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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