See Also: desiccate(medicine)
Desiccate(health)
desiccate(1)(dictionary)
desiccate(2)(dictionary)

desiccate(2) (iou)



desiccate verb. L16.
[Latin desiccat- pa. ppl stem of desiccare, from de- DE- 1 + siccare make dry, from siccus dry: see -ATE3.]
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.
verb intrans. Become dry, dry up. rare. L17.
Nature The lake is now desiccating.
? Formerly stressed on 2nd syll.