to cut, bite, or corrode with an acid or the like; engrave with an acid or the like, as to form a design in furrows that when charged with ink will give an impression on paper.
to produce (a design, image, etc.) by this method, as on copper or glass.
to outline clearly or sharply; delineate, as a person's features or character.
to fix permanently in or implant firmly on the mind; root in the memory: Our last conversation is etched in my memory.
Geology. to cut (a feature) into the surface of the earth by means of erosion: A deep canyon was etched into the land by the river's rushing waters.
verb (used without object)
to practice the art of etching.
noun
Printing. an acid used for etching.
Origin of etch
1625–35; <Dutch etsen<German ätzen to etch, originally cause to eat; cognate with Old English ettan to graze; akin to eat
But Lamont calls him “an Etch a Sketch candidate” and says he had “not a prayer” of winning reelection.
Joe Lieberman’s Slow-Motion Divorce From the Democratic Party|Howard Kurtz|July 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He could not control the pattern of lines beginning to etch themselves into the skin of that young face.
Walker Evans’ Famous Picture of an Alabama Tenant Farmer’s Wife Is Celebrated and Explained|Malcolm Jones|July 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Etch all shades of the color pretty deeply in any of the stippled or aquatint styles.
The Invention of Lithography|Alois Senefelder
Make the necessary erasures with water of Ayr stone and etch with fairly strong nitric acid.
Practical Lithography|Alfred Seymour
Etch only enough to eat away the uppermost parts of the prepared surface that have not been permeated with fat.
The Invention of Lithography|Alois Senefelder
Then, I love to etch, particularly on noses, and that was a good big one.
Daisy|Miranda Eliot Swan
But you cannot etch a girl—nor, unless in his old age, or with very partial rendering of him, a gentleman.
On the Old Road Vol. 1 (of 2)|John Ruskin
British Dictionary definitions for etch
etch
/ (ɛtʃ) /
verb
(tr)to wear away the surface of (a metal, glass, etc) by chemical action, esp the action of an acid
to cut or corrode (a design, decoration, etc) on (a metal or other plate to be used for printing) by using the action of acid on parts not covered by wax or other acid-resistant coating
(tr)to cut with or as if with a sharp implementhe etched his name on the table
(tr; usually passive)to imprint vividlythe event was etched on her memory
Derived forms of etch
etcher, noun
Word Origin for etch
C17: from Dutch etsen, from Old High German azzen to feed, bite