desiccate
/ˈdɛsɪkeɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.38 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Having had moisture removed; dehydrated, desiccated.
noun
A substance which has been desiccated, that is, had its moisture removed.
Example Sentences
- "[…] As in Bodies deſsiccate, by Heat, or Age; For in them, when the Natiue Spirit goeth forth, and the Moiſture with it, the Aire with time getteth into the Pores."
- "Except on the borders of the ocean, and on the mountain sides where it deposits moisture in a visible form, the sea breeze has a drying effect. It desiccates the soil with rapidity."
- "[George A.] Wyeth, who is also a first class surgeon, as well as urologist, has made use of the desiccation and endothermic method to destroy tumors in the bladder by making a suprapublic opening and then penetrating and desiccating the disease in an area all around the base of the tumor which is then undermined, desiccated, and removed."
- "At the time of spring burning in 1968 the leaves and small stems of standing manzanita plants had been thoroughly desiccated by the spray treatment first applied in November, 1966."
- "Transfer the acetone washings to a tared beaker and evaporate to dryness at ambient temperature and pressure. Desiccate and dry to a constant weight."
- "The nuts are then passed into a double disc machine, and this travelling at a speed of 3,000 revolutions per minute desiccates the coconut."
Etymology
From Latin dēsiccō (“to dry completely, dry up”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix), from dē- (“completely, to exhaustion”, a prefix) + siccō (“to dry; to drain, exhaust”), from siccus (“dry”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, de- + siccate.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *seyk-, dēsiccātus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɛsɪkeɪt/
- British English: /ˈdɛsɪkeɪt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
desiccates (present, singular)
desiccating (participle, present)
desiccated (participle, past)
desiccated (past)
more desiccate (comparative)
most desiccate (superlative)
desiccates (plural)