SCALD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does scald mean? 

• SCALD (noun)
  The noun SCALD has 2 senses:

1. a burn cause by hot liquid or steam

2. the act of burning with steam or hot water

  Familiarity information: SCALD used as a noun is rare.

• SCALD (verb)
  The verb SCALD has 4 senses:

1. subject to harsh criticism

2. treat with boiling water

3. heat to the boiling point

4. burn with a hot liquid or steam

  Familiarity information: SCALD used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SCALD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A burn cause by hot liquid or steam

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("scald" is a kind of...):

burn (an injury caused by exposure to heat or chemicals or radiation)

Derivation:

scald (burn with a hot liquid or steam)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of burning with steam or hot water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("scald" is a kind of...):

burn (damage inflicted by fire)

Derivation:

scald (burn with a hot liquid or steam)

• SCALD (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they scald    ... he / she / it scalds   
Past simple: scalded   
Past participle: scalded   
-ing form: scalding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Subject to harsh criticism

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

blister; scald; whip

Context example:

your invectives scorched the community

Hypernyms (to "scald" is one way to...):

assail; assault; attack; lash out; round; snipe (attack in speech or writing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Treat with boiling water

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

scald tomatoes so that they can be peeled

Hypernyms (to "scald" is one way to...):

process; treat (subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Heat to the boiling point

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

scald the milk

Hypernyms (to "scald" is one way to...):

heat; heat up (make hot or hotter)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Burn with a hot liquid or steam

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

She scalded her hands when she turned on the faucet and hot water came out

Hypernyms (to "scald" is one way to...):

burn (damage by burning with heat, fire, or radiation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

scald (the act of burning with steam or hot water)

scald (a burn cause by hot liquid or steam)

 Context examples 

After that, when I gave them each a mug of scalding tea, the noises ceased.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

She killed two fowls, scalded them, plucked them, put them on the spit, and towards evening set them before the fire, that they might roast.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Scalds from hot liquids and steam, building fires and flammable liquids and gases are the most common causes of burns.

(Burns, NIH: National Institute of General Medical Sciences)

Would you wish me to shave my head and black my face, or disfigure myself with a burn, or a scald, or something of that sort?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

May your eyes never shed such stormy, scalding, heart-wrung tears as poured from mine.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"My dearest girl, what is the matter?" cried John, rushing in, with awful visions of scalded hands, sudden news of affliction, and secret consternation at the thought of the guest in the garden.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But, as princes seldom get their meat hot, my legs were not scalded, only my stockings and breeches in a sad condition.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The moment Miss Scatcherd withdrew after afternoon school, I ran to Helen, tore it off, and thrust it into the fire: the fury of which she was incapable had been burning in my soul all day, and tears, hot and large, had continually been scalding my cheek; for the spectacle of her sad resignation gave me an intolerable pain at the heart.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

When I lighted my candles, he fell into meek transports with the room that was revealed to him; and when I heated the coffee in an unassuming block-tin vessel in which Mrs. Crupp delighted to prepare it (chiefly, I believe, because it was not intended for the purpose, being a shaving-pot, and because there was a patent invention of great price mouldering away in the pantry), he professed so much emotion, that I could joyfully have scalded him.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)