Torched

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To experience the act of being consumed by flames or fire
2. to have an object completely rendered inoperative or ruined due to combustion
3. To have something deliberately ignited so it burns ; to have an item thoroughly damaged or ruined by fire

Etymology: The most striking thing about "torched" is how far its verb sense has drifted from the wisp of straw it began with. The noun "torch" comes from Old French "torche," meaning a bundle of twisted straw, and its ultimate ancestor is a Latin word for a coiled object, "torqua," linked to the idea of twisting or winding. A torch was originally a twisted bundle of plant fibres dipped in something flammable such as pitch, so the flame came second to the twist. The verb arrived in English by a different route. It was borrowed from French "torcher," which meant to daub, to wipe, or to plaster walls with clay mixed with chopped straw. In other words, the French verb had nothing to do with fire at all. Its sense of setting something alight grew out of the noun's association with flame, and the English verb carries that later meaning.

Synonyms: burned, set fire to, incinerated, blazed, scorched

Antonyms: extinguished, quenched, doused, put out, snuffed