drench
/dɹɛnt͡ʃ/ noun, verb
Forms drenches drenching drenched drencht drenchest drenchedst drencheth
- noun (archaic, also figurative) A dose or draught of liquid medicine (especially one causing sleepiness) taken by a person; specifically, a (large) dose, or one forced or poured down the throat.
- noun (veterinary medicine) A dose or draught of liquid medicine administered to an animal.
- verb To cause (someone) to drink; to provide (someone) with a drink.
- verb (specifically, veterinary medicine) To administer a dose or draught of liquid medicine to (an animal), often by force.
- verb To make (someone or something) completely wet by having water or some other liquid fall or thrown on them or it; to saturate, to soak; also (archaic), to make (someone or something) completely wet by immersing in water or some other liquid; to soak, to steep.
- verb (obsolete) To drown (someone).
- verb (obsolete, figurative) To overwhelm (someone); to drown, to engulf.
- verb (intransitive, obsolete) To be drowned; also, to be immersed in water.
- noun An act of making someone or something completely wet; a soak or soaking, a wetting.
- noun An amount of water or some other liquid that will make someone or something completely wet.
Synonyms
bedrench souse endrench indrench swamp imbrue douse dowse soak sop
Etymology
From Middle English drench, drenche (“beverage, drink; cup of drink, specifically a poisoned drink; medicinal potion, specifically an emetic (?)”) [and other forms], from Old English drenċ (“drink; draft, potion; dose (of medicine, poison, etc.)”), from Proto-West Germanic *dranki, from Proto-Germanic *drankiz (“drink; potion; dose”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrenǵ- (“to draw, pull; to gulp; to sip”). Doublet of drink (noun).
* Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌺 (draggk), 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌺 (dragk, “beverage, drink”)
* Old Dutch *dranc, (Middle Dutch dranc, modern Dutch drank (“beverage, drink”))
* Old High German tranc, tranch (Middle High German tranc, modern German Trank (“drink; potion”))
* Old Saxon dranc
The verb is derived from Middle English drenchen, drench (“to drown; to flood, inundate; to consume (drink or food); to give (someone) a drink; to poison (someone) with a drink; to immerse, soak, drench; to descend, fall, sink; to penetrate, permeate; (figurative) to engulf, overwhelm”) [and other forms], from Old English drenċan (“to give (someone) a drink; to immerse, soak, drench”), from Proto-West Germanic *drankijan, from Proto-Germanic *drankijaną (“to cause (someone) to drink”), the causative of *drinkaną (“to drink”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrenǵ- (“to draw, pull; to gulp; to sip”). Doublet of drink (verb).
The noun is derived from the verb (etymology 2, verb sense 1.2).
* Old High German trenchen (modern German tränken (“to give a drink; to water”))
* Old Norse drekkja, drenkja (Swedish dränka)
* Old Saxon dręnkian (Dutch drenke (“to get a drink”))
Webster’s 1913
- verb To cause to drink; especially, to dose by force; to put a potion down the throat of, as of a horse; hence. to purge violently by physic.
- verb To steep in moisture; to wet thoroughly; to soak; to saturate with water or other liquid; to immerse.
- noun A drink; a draught; specifically, a potion of medicine poured or forced down the throat; also, a potion that causes purging. "A drench of wine." Dryden.
- noun A military vassal mentioned in Domesday Book. [Obs.] Burrill.
Etymology [AS. drencan to give to drink, to drench, the causal of drincan to drink; akin to D. drenken, Sw. dränka, G. tränken. See Drink.]
Etymology [AS. drenc. See Drench, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “drench”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details