Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The catch in a gunlock that keeps the hammer halfcocked or fully cocked.
- intransitive verb To char, scorch, or burn the surface of.
- intransitive verb To brown (meat) quickly using very high heat. synonym: burn.
- intransitive verb To cause to dry up and wither.
- intransitive verb To cause emotional pain or trauma to.
- intransitive verb To cause to be felt or remembered because of emotional intensity.
- intransitive verb To become dried up or withered.
- intransitive verb To be felt or remembered because of emotional intensity.
- noun A condition, such as a scar, produced by searing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The pivoted piece in a gun-lock which enters the notches of the tumbler and holds the hammer at full or half cock. See cuts under
gun-lock and rifle. - noun An obsolete spelling of
seer . - Dry; withered: used especially of vegetation.
- To become dry; wither.
- To make dry; dry up; wither.
- To wither or dry up on the surface by the application of heat or of something heated; scorch; burn the surface of; burn from the surface in ward; cauterize: as, to
sear the flesh with a hot iron. - To deaden or make callous; deprive of sensibility or feeling.
- To blight or blast; shrivel up.
- Synonyms and Singe, etc. See
scorch .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Dry; withered; no longer green; -- applied to leaves.
- noun The catch in a gunlock by which the hammer is held cocked or half cocked.
- noun the spring which causes the sear to catch in the notches by which the hammer is held.
- transitive verb To wither; to dry up.
- transitive verb To burn (the surface of) to dryness and hardness; to cauterize; to expose to a degree of heat such as changes the color or the hardness and texture of the surface; to scorch; to make callous. Also used figuratively.
- transitive verb to close by searing.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Dry ;withered , especially of vegetation. - verb To
char ,scorch , orburn thesurface of something with a hotinstrument - noun A
scar produced by searing - noun Part of a
gun that retards thehammer until the trigger is pulled.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture
- verb burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color
- verb make very hot and dry
- verb become superficially burned
- verb cause to wither or parch from exposure to heat
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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V. iii.22 (518,6) my way of life/Is fall'n into the sear] As there is no relation between the _way of life_, and _fallen into the sear_, I am inclined to think that the W is only an M inverted, and that it was originally written,
Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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The only gun I know that can be made full auto by filing the sear is the old M-1 carbine.
The Volokh Conspiracy » President Calderon’s claim about “assault weapons” 2010
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Sooner or later they would get him, if he did not get them first, if he did not once again sear on their dark souls the flaming mastery of the white man.
Chapter 2 2010
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Sooner or later they would get him, if he did not get them first, if he did not once again sear on their dark souls the flaming mastery of the white man.
Something Is Done 1911
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The only gun I know that can be made full auto by filing the sear is the old M-1 carbine.
The Volokh Conspiracy » President Calderon’s claim about “assault weapons” 2010
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So while you can put it in any HK type gun, don't put it in something else, like an FNC or AK (it has been done) thinking the sear is a license to convert any gun you can shoehorn it into.
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I'm surprised at how many I remember, though, because they do kind of sear into your mind, this giant jigsaw puzzle of all the words, forming a picture of an America where, first, we were naming the plants and animals and observing the Indians 'customs, whether they were tomahawks or caucuses.
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Aldis Wright must be right about 'sear' {135a} -- French _serre_ he says.
Letters of Edward FitzGerald in Two Volumes Vol. II Edward FitzGerald 1846
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Because the little wells trap in moisture, the burgers don't get any kind of sear on them-they more or less steam in their own juices-but for sliders, that's not a particularly bad thing.
A Hamburger Today 2010
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"They take a tool, and they smash the burger on the grill and kind of sear the meat on the outside and seal in all the juices," Calhoun said.
azcentral.com | news 2010
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The reverse sear is the opposite of that: you cook the steak in a low-temp environment first until it is about 15°F (8°C) below your target pull temperature. Then you sear the steak to give it that tasty crust and to finish the cooking.
Grilled Rib Eye Steak: Reverse Sear and Thermal Principles Martin 2023
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Personally I prefer sous vide when doing a reverse sear. You’re cooking it at the “done” temperature so there’s no risk of overcooking.
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I've been using and writing about the reverse sear—the technique of slow-cooking a steak or roast before finishing it off with a hot sear—for well over a decade now, but I've never written a definitive guide for using it on steaks.
Reverse-Seared Steak Recipe Editorial Process 2025
chained_bear commented on the word sear
Also part of a Mauser 98 (rifle):
"But most experienced snipers filed the two steel pimples that acted as levers on the rifle's sear in order to quicken its action and minimize the barrel's movement during firing."
--David Macfarlane, The Danger Tree, 268
May 13, 2008
yarb commented on the word sear
The California summer lay blanket-wise and smothering over all the land. The hills, bone-dry, were browned and parched. The grasses and wild-oats, sear and yellow, snapped like glass filaments under foot.
- Frank Norris, The Octopus, bk 2, ch. 5
August 27, 2008