Definition of desiccate
desiccated
;desiccating
transitive verb
1 : to dry up the desiccated land
2 : to preserve (a food) by drying : dehydrate desiccated coconut
3 : to drain of emotional or intellectual vitality … a charming little romance … not desiccated and compressed within the pages of a book — Elinor Wylie
intransitive verb
: to become dried up leaves desiccating in winter Lake Valencia has been … steadily desiccating for more than 200 years. — J. Platt Bradbury et al.
From the M-W Editors
desiccate was our Word of the Day on 04/19/2015. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of desiccate in a Sentence
that historian's dryasdust prose desiccates what is actually an exciting period in European history
add a cup of desiccated coconut to the mix
Recent Examples of desiccate from the Web
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WHETHER from neglect, lack of rain or water-use restrictions, many plants end their days a sorry mess: brown and brittle in parched patio containers or desiccated in balcony planters.
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The idea that they were buried under the sand and desiccated and lacking any sort of moisture.
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The giraffe—looking desiccated but not disfigured—was put on display in a clear, airless box.
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Scales form over buds to protect them from desiccating or drying out, and from freezing temperatures.
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Biologists have been discovering all kinds of organisms on Earth capable of thriving in extreme environments, such as frozen Arctic tundra and desiccated deserts.
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Many of us live on patches of ground that look as desiccated as that roof Novak started with.
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The sea separated from the world’s oceans 5.6 million years ago and was desiccated by evaporation in a period geologists call the Messinian salinity crisis.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'desiccate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Raisins are desiccated grapes; they're also dehydrated grapes. And yet, a close look at the etymologies of desiccate and dehydrate raises a tangly question. In Latin siccus means "dry," whereas the Greek stem hydr- means "water." So how could it be that desiccate and dehydrate are synonyms? The answer is in the multiple identities of the prefix de-. It may look like the same prefix, but the de- in desiccate means "completely, thoroughly," as in despoil ("to spoil utterly") or denude ("to strip completely bare"). The de- in dehydrate, on the other hand, means "remove," the same as it does in defoliate ("to strip of leaves") or in deice ("to rid of ice").
Origin and Etymology of desiccate
Latin desiccatus, past participle of desiccare to dry up, from de- + siccare to dry, from siccus dry — more at sack
Medical Dictionary
desiccate
playMedical Definition of desiccate
desiccated
;desiccating
1
transitive verb
: to dry up or cause to dry up : deprive or exhaust of moisture; especially : to dry thoroughly uses radio frequencies of 100,000 Hz to 10,000,000 Hz to cut, coagulate, and desiccate tissue—Bettyann Hutchisson et al2: to preserve a food by drying : dehydrate desiccated coconut
intransitive verb
: to become dried up : undergo a desiccating process
Learn More about desiccate
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See words that rhyme with desiccate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for desiccate Spanish Central: Translation of desiccate Nglish: Translation of desiccate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of desiccate for Arabic speakers
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