exsiccate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin exsicco, exsiccatus, from ex- + siccus (“dry”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛksɪkeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

exsiccate (third-person singular simple present exsiccates, present participle exsiccating, simple past and past participle exsiccated)

1. (transitive) To dry, to desiccate, to dehydrate.

   Synonym: parch

   Antonyms: hydrate, moisturize

   • 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 147:

     The guinea hen, so nearly exsiccated a few days earlier, dangles limp once again, as wet as if it had been freshly slaughtered.

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) exiccate

Derived terms

• exsiccator

Related terms

• exsiccation

Anagrams

• exiccates

Latin

Verb

exsiccāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of exsiccō