Definition of "scorch" [scorch]

• To burn superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of. See Synonyms at burn1. (verb-transitive)
• To wither or parch with intense heat. (verb-transitive)
• To destroy (land and buildings) by or as if by fire so as to leave nothing salvageable to an enemy army. (verb-transitive)
• To subject to severe censure; excoriate. (verb-transitive)
• To become scorched or singed. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Thus reflecting sagely, he kept his eyes on his plate and did justice to the fare; for one cannot scorch from the Cliff House to the Western Addition via the park without being guilty of a healthy appetite."
• "Except for a few tell-tale spots of "scorch" marking the back of her new dress, from her appearance Tavia might never have been suspected of being the heroine of a railroad accident."
• "Looking at where the Yorkshire / Lancashire border cuts through Todmorden Cricket Ground I am sure that you can make out the 'scorch' marks in the earth where the original hedge or ditch marking the boundary used to be."