Sear /(sēr)/

1. Dry; withered; no longer green; -- applied to leaves.

   I have lived long enough; my way of life Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf.

imp. & p. p. Seared; p. pr. & vb. n. Searing

1. To wither; to dry up.
2. 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; as, to sear the skin or flesh. Also used figuratively.

   I'm seared with burning steel.

   It was in vain that the amiable divine tried to give salutary pain to that seared conscience.

   The discipline of war, being a discipline in destruction of life, is a discipline in callousness. Whatever sympathies exist are seared.

1. The catch in a gunlock by which the hammer is held cocked or half cocked.