▪ I. ˈdesiccate, ppl. a. arch.
[ad. L. dēsiccāt-us dried up, pa. pple. of dēsiccāre: see next.]
Desiccated, dried.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 179 But daies thre this seede is goode bewette In mylk or meth, and after desiccate Sette hem; thai wol be swete. 1626 Bacon Sylva §842 Bodies desiccate, by Heat, or Age. 1840 Browning Sordello ii. 313 Juicy in youth or desiccate with age. |
▪ II. desiccate, v.
(dɪˈsɪkeɪt, ˈdɛsɪkeɪt)
[f. L. dēsiccāt-, ppl. stem of dēsiccāre to dry completely, dry up, f. de- I. 3 + siccāre to dry, siccus dry.
(For changing stress see note to contemplate: deˈsiccate is the only pronunciation in Dicts. down to 1864, and in Ogilvie 1882, Cassell 1883.)]
1. trans. To make quite dry; to deprive thoroughly of moisture; to dry, dry up. Also fig.
In U.S. applied to the thorough drying of articles of food for preservation.
| 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 261 They doe mollifie, and desiccate the wounde or disease. 1626 Bacon Sylva §727 Wine helpeth to digest and desiccate the moisture. 1657 Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 181 This..will desiccate an ulcer. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. iv. 426 No..courtly art [shall] Damp the bold thought or desiccate the heart. 1832 I. Taylor Saturday Even. (1834) 297 Atheism in all its forms desiccates the affections. 1839 Bailey Festus Proem, Though we should by art Bring earth to gas and desiccate the sea. 1883 Proctor in Knowl. 3 Aug. 74/1 The shock was of sufficient intensity to..partially desiccate the muscular tissues. |
2. intr. To become dry. rare.
| 1679 Rycaut Grk. Church 277 Bodies of such whom they have Canonized for Saints to continue unconsumed, and..to dry and desiccate like the Mummies in Egypt. |
Hence desiccating vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1651 tr. Bacon's Life & Death 7 They speak much of the Elementary Quality of Siccity or Drienesse; and of things Desiccating. 1866 J. Martineau Ess. I. 388 The very things which this desiccating rationalism flung off. 1871 B. Stewart Heat §63 The..air was..thoroughly dried by being passed through a desiccating apparatus. 1893 Athenæum 1 Apr. 402/2 That desiccating of the Anglo-Saxon in North America which Humboldt and others have commented upon. |
▪ III. desiccate, n.
(ˈdɛsɪkət)
[f. the ppl. adj.]
A desiccated substance or product.
| 1926 Science 28 May 549 Some of my experiments were carried out with this desiccate. 1940 Nature 6 July 30/2 We decided to try desiccated 9–11 day chick embryos as a source of active principle... The desiccate was reconstituted by adding sterile distilled water. |