desiccate
/ˈdɛsɪkeɪt
/verb [with object]
1 (usually as adjective desiccated) Remove the moisture from (something), typically in order to preserve it: desiccated coconut...
- These events may need to occur within a fixed time period under the high temperature and low moisture conditions of the desert since high temperatures and low moisture will eventually desiccate detached stem segments.
- This drying technique involves the use of an absorbent which desiccates the rose by transferring the moisture from the petals to another medium.
- Terrestrial amphibians face a challenge analogous to that of marine intertidal animals, in that they are highly permeable animals in a potentially desiccating environment.
Synonyms
dried, dried up, dry, dehydrated, powdered
2 (as adjective desiccated) Lacking interest, passion, or energy: a desiccated history of ideas...
- Not so many years ago, I believed that when love was at stake, dignity was a failure of the heart - the booby prize for the old, whose imaginations rattled in the wind, desiccated of all passion.
- Despite all the gadgets to lighten his work, he leaves his office with a dull and desiccated mind.
- In place of passionate political arguments we have a desiccated debate on the euro polarised between technocratic proponents and emotional opponents.
Derivatives
desiccation
/ noun ...- A sprinkle of water helps protect the roots from desiccation.
- Unfortunately for them the dry warm conditions in modern houses tend to cause desiccation and death.
- This early accumulation of sucrose would suggest that the root system is prepared for dehydration very rapidly before severe desiccation is evident.
desiccative
/ adjective ...- This once-promising art district succumbs to vigorous development and its concomitant desiccative effect.
- If it is the slightest bit ‘green’ it has a dreadful desiccative effect on the inside of your mouth.
- Spatially complex microhabitats tend to reduce desiccative water loss by cutting down the amount of moving air the animal is exposed to.
Origin
Late 16th century: from Latin desiccat- 'made thoroughly dry', from the verb desiccare.