sear 
face inward; cauterize: as, to sear the flesh with 
a hot iron. 
I would to God that the inclusive verge 
Of golden metal that must round my brow 
Were red-hot steel, to gear me to the Drain ! 
Shak., Rich. III., iv. 1. 61. 
Hence 3. To deaden or make callous ; deprive 
of sensibility or feeling. 
Yet shalt thou feel, with horror 
To thy sear'd conscience, my truth is built 
On such a firm base that, if e'er it can 
Be forc'd or undermin'd by thy base scandals, 
Heaven keeps no guard on innocence. 
Fletcher (and Massinger 1), Lovers' Progress, iii. 6. 
But so inconsistent is human nature that there are ten- 
der spots even in seared consciences. 
Macautay, Hist. Eng., vii. 
4. To blight or blast ; shrivel up. 
For calumny will sear 
Virtue itself. Shak., W. T., II. 1. 73. 
To Bear up, to close by searing or cauterizing ; stop. 
How, how ! another? 
You gentle gods, give me but this 1 have, 
And sear up my embracenients from a next 
With bonds of death ! Shale., Cymbeline, i. 1. 116. 
Cherish reins of good humour, and sear up those of 111. 
Sir W. Temple. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Singe, etc. See scorch. 
sear 2 (ser), n. [Early mod. E. also scare, sere; 
< OF. serre, F. dial, serrc, a lock, bolt, bar, < L. 
sera, ML. also serra, a bar for a door: see sera.} 
The pivoted piece in a gun-lock which enters 
the notches of the tumbler and holds the ham- 
mer at full or half cock. See cuts under gun- 
tack and rifle Lteht or tickle of the seart, easy to 
set off; easily excited; wanton. 
Th clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickle 
of the tere. Shale., Hamlet, ii. 2. 336. 
Discovering the moods and humours of the vulgar sort 
to be BO loose and tickle of the seare. 
Howard's Dc.fcnsative (1620), quoted by Douce. (HalKweU.) 
sear 3 t, An obsolete spelling of seer 1 . 
sea-radish (se'rad'ish), n. See radish. 
sea-ragwort (se'rag'wert), n. Same as dusty- 
miller, 2. 
sea-rat (se'rat), n. 1. The chimera, Chimsera 
monstrosa. [Local, Eng.] 2. A pirate. 
sea-raven (se'ra'vn), n. I. The cormorant. 
2. The fish Hemitripterus acadianus or ameri- 
canus, type of the family Bemitripteridx, of large 
5440 
To sift them (pieces of hellebore] through a aercer, that 
the bark or rind may remain. Holland, tr. of Pliny, xxv. 5. 
search-light 
chase or investment is safe. =Syn. Inquiry, Scrutiny, etc. 
(see examination), exploration. 
search (serch), v. [Early mod. E. also serch ; searchable (si-r'cha-bl), a. [< search + -able.'] 
<'M.E.serchen,cercheii,<6F.cei-c/iii-,fni/i,tr,F. Capable of being searched or explored. Cot- 
clin-clier, search, seek for, = Pr. cercar, sen/itur !/>'<"'<' 
= Sp. cercar, encircle, surround, = Pg. eercar, searchableness (ser'cha-bl-nes), n. The char- 
encircle, suiTound, OPg. also search through, acter of being searchable. 
= It. cercare, search, < LL. circare, go round, go searchant (rtr'ehant), a. [< OF. cerchant, ppr. 
about, explore, < L. cirow*, a ring, circle, circum. "' '"'/"', search: see search.'] Searching: a 
jocose word formed after the heraldic adjec- 
tives in -ant. 
Sea-raven (Hemftfifternt atrterffanus). 
size and singular appearance, common on the 
coast of North America, chiefly from Cape Cod 
northward, and known also as Acadian bullhead, 
deep-water sculpin, and yellow sculpin. It is dis- 
tinguished by its long spinous dorsal fin, having about 
seventeen spines, of which the first two are highest and 
the fourth and fifth shorter than the succeeding ones, the 
fin being thus deeply and sigmoidally emarginated. 
Scarce (sers), . [Formerly also searse, sarce, 
sane; < ME. sarce, saarce, sarse, sars, cers 
(with intrusive r, as in hoarse), < OF. seas, 
saas, sas, sasse, F. sas, a sieve, = Sp. cedazo, a 
hair-sieve, searce, = Pg. sedaqo, lawn for sieves, 
a sieve, bolter, = It. staccio, setaccio, a sieve, < 
ML. setacium, setatium, setacius, sedacium, prop. 
setaceum, a sieve, prop, a hair-sieve, neut. (sc. 
cribrum, sieve) of 'setaceus, of hair or bristles, 
< L. seta, a hair, a bristle : see seta, setaceous.'] 
A sieve, especially a fine sieve. Prompt. Pan., 
p. 441. [Prov. Bug. or Scotch.] 
All the rest must be passed through a fine searce. 
The Countess of Kent's Choice Manual (1676). (JVare*.) 
searce (sers), v. t. ; pret. and pp. searced, ppr. 
searcing. [Formerly also searse, sarce, sarse; 
< ME. sarcen, saareen, sarsen, < OF. (and F.)sas- 
ser = It. stacciare, < ML. setaciare, sift ; from the 
noun.] To sift through a searce. [Prov. Eng. 
or Scotch.] 
To s-,*jfte, and trye out the best greyne. 
Arnold's Chron., p. 87. 
Bete all this smal, and sarce it smothe atte alle. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. 8.), p. 202. 
Sublimate and crude mercury, sir, well prepared and 
dulcified, with the jaw-bones of a sow, burnt, beaten, and 
searced. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. 2. 
scarcer (ser'ser), n. [Formerly also sereer ; < 
searce + -er l .~\ 1 . One who uses a searce ; a win- 
nower; a bolter. 2. A fine sieve; a strainer. 
round about : see circus, circum-, circle. Cf. re- 
search^.] I. trans. 1. To go through and ex- 
amine carefully and in detail, as in quest of 
something lost, concealed, or as yet undiscov- 
ered; explore: as, to search a ship; to ,/,// 
one's baggage or person at the custom-house. 
That have passed many Londes and manyc Yles and Con- 
trees, and cerched manye fulle Btraunge places, and have 
ben in many a fulle gode honourable Companye. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 317). 
Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan. 
Num. xiii. 2. 
Help to search my house this one time. If I find not 
what I seek, show no colour for my extremity. 
Shak., M. W. of W., Iv. 2. 167. 
2. To examine by probing; probe: as, to 
search a wound. 
The wounded lete hem be ledde to townes, and serched 
theire sores. Merlin (E. E. T. S-X Hi. 84. 
You search the sore too deep. 
Fletcher, Valentiulan, i. 3. 
Such engines of terror God hath given into the hand of 
his minister as to search thetenderest angles of the heart. 
Milton, Church-Government, ii. a. 
3. To test; put to the test; try. [Rare.] 
Thou hast searched me, and known me. Ps. cxxxix. 1. 
Prosperity does search a gentleman's temper 
More than his adverse fortune. 
Hi a n. andFL, Custom of the Country, ii. 1. 
4. To look for; seek out; make search for; en- 
deavor to find. 
He hath been search'd among the dead and living, 
But no trace of him. Shak., Cymbeline, v. 5. 11. 
He bids ask of the old paths, or for the old wayes, where 
or which is the good way : which implies that all old 
wayes are not good, but that the good way is to be searcht 
with diligence among the old wayes. 
Milton, On Def. of Hnmb. Remonst. 
To search a meaning for the song. 
Tennyson, Day-Dream, L'Envoi. 
5. To explore or investigate. 
Enough is left besides to search and know. 
Milton, P. L., vii. 125. 
6f. To reach or penetrate to. 
Mirth doth search the bottom of annoy. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1109. 
= Syn. 1. To sift, probe, -land 2. Search, Scrutinize, Ex- . t , , r , ',?-'. 
flare, \\esearch a place or search for a thing by looking Searcher- (ser Cher), n. [A var. of searcei; 
everywhere with a close attention ; we scrutinize a thing simulating searcher*.] A sieve or strainer. 
with a close attention, without emphasizing the idea of 
looking throughout ; we explore that which is unknown 
and outside of our ordinary travels or knowledge. See 
examination. 
II. intrans. 1. To make search; seek; look: searcheresst (ser'cher-es), n. [< searcher* + 
with for before the object sought. *] A female searcher ; an inventress. 
[Rare.] 
A civil cutpurse searchant; a sweet singer of new bal- 
lads allurant : and as fresh an hypocrite as ever was 
broached rampant. B. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, Ind. 
searcher 1 (ser'cher), M. [< search + -<(!.] 1. 
One who searches, in any senge of that word. 
That our love is sound and sincere . . . who can pro- 
nounce, saving only the Searcher of all men's hearts, who 
alone intuitively doth know in this kind who are His? 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, iii. 1. 
'Tls endless to tell you what the curious searchers into 
nature's productions have observed of these worms and 
flies. /. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 98. 
The Searcher follows fast; the Object faster files. 
Prior, Solomon, i. 
In particular (o) A customs officer whose business it is 
to search ships, baggage, goods, etc., for prohibited or un- 
declared dutiable articles, etc. 
At the towneB end certain searchers examined us for 
money, according to a custome ... of Italy. 
Coryat, Crudities, 1. 98. 
(6) A prison official who searches or examines the cloth- 
ing of newly arrested persons, and takes temporary pos- 
session of the articles found about them, (c) A civil offi- 
cer formerly appointed in some Scottish towns to appre- 
hend idlers on the street during church hours on the Sab- 
bath. 
If we bide here, the searchers will be on us, and carry 
us to the guard-house for being idlers in kirk-time. Scott. 
Id) A person employed to search the public records of 
conveyances, mortgages, judgments, etc., to ascertain 
whether a title be good, or to find instruments affecting 
a title. (t) A person formerly appointed in London to 
examine the bodies of the dead, and report the cause of 
death. 
Knowe, in my rage I have slaine a man this day, 
And knowe not where his body to conveigh 
And hide it from the searchers inquisition. 
Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 121. 
(/) An inspector of leather. [Local, Eng.] 
2. Something used in searching, examining, 
testing, etc. (a) An instrument for examining ord- 
nance, to ascertain whether guna have any defects in the 
bore. (6) An instrument used in the inspection of but- 
ter, or the like, to ascertain the quality of that contained 
in firkins, etc. (c) In surg., a sound for searching the 
bladder for calculi, (d) An ocular or eyepiece of very low 
power, used In finding particular points of Interest, to be 
examined then with higher powers of the microscope. 
Also called searchir ~ 
The [orange-] pulp is boiled, and then passed through a 
searcher, to remove the tough skin and pits. 
Workshop Receipts, 2d ser., p. 446. 
Of theese drirye dolours eeke thow Queene luno the 
searchresse. Stanihurst, . Kncid, iv. 
But euer Grisandols serched thourgh the forestes, oon 
hour foreward, another bakke, that so endured vllj dayes 
Merlin (E. E. T. 8.\ iii. 428. searchership (ser'cher-ship), n. [< ME. serchor- 
Satisfy me once more ; once more search with me. 
Shot., M. W. of W., iv. 2. 172. 
2. To make strict or careful inquiry ; inquire. 
Thou mayest do well enough in . . . the next world, and 
be a glorious saint, and yet never search into God's secrets. 
Donne, Sermons, vii. 
He [an antiquary] never thinks of the beauty of the 
ship ; < searcher 1 + -ship. ] The office of searcher 
or examiner. 
Wherfor I beseke youre maistirBhipp that If my seid 
Lord have the seid office, that it lyke yon to desyre the 
nomynacion of on of the offlcez, eythyr of the couutroller 
or serchorship of Pernemuth, for a'servaunt of yowrez. 
Paston Letters, II. 97. 
1. Engaged in 
seeking,""exploring, investigating, or examin- 
ing: as, a searching party. 2. Keen; pene- 
trating; close: as, a searching discourse; a 
searching wind ; a searching investigation. 
That 's a marvellous searching wine. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., ii. 4. 30. 
Loosening with searching drops the rigid waste. 
Jones Very, Poems, p. 105. 
thought or language, but is for searching into what he calls searching (ser'ching), p. a 
the erudition of the author. Addison, Ancient Medals, i. see kine. exDlorimr. investii 
search (serch), . [Early mod. E. also serch; < 
search, v. Cf. F. cherche, < chercher, search.] A 
seeking or looking, as for something lost, con- 
cealed, desired, etc. ; the act of going through 
a receptacle, place, collection of things, or the 
like, with the view of finding something lost, 
hidden, or undiscovered; exploratory exami- 
nation; quest; inquiry; investigation: as, to searchingly (ser'ching-li), adv . In a searching 
makesearcA; in search of a wif e ; to give up the manner. ' 
search. searchlngness (ser'ching-nes), n. The quality 
of being searching, penetrating, close, or try- 
ing. 
searchless (serch'les), a. [< search + -less.] 
Eluding search or investigation ; inscrutable ; 
unsearchable. 
The modest-seeming eye, 
Beneath whose beauteous beams, belying heaven, 
Lurk searchless cunning, cruelty, and death. 
Thomson, Spring, 1. 990. 
irUtwfnily Search-light (serch'lit), . An electric arc- 
commissioned cruisers to enter private merchant vessels light having a lens or reflector, mounted on 
of other nations met with on high seas, to examine their shinlioarrl or on land on a vertical axis in such 
papers and cargo, and to search for enemies' property, 
articles contraband of war, etc.-Search for encum- a wav "* tlle WMn of light may be made to 
brancea, the inquiry made in the public records by a traverse in a horizontal path. It is used on mer- 
purchaser or mortgagee of lands as to the burdens and chant ships to light up intricate channels at night, and 
state of the title, in order to discover whether his pur- on men-of-war to detect the approach of torpedo-boats or 
After long search and chauff he turned backe. 
Spenser, F. Q., VI. II. 21. 
There 's a place 
So artificially contriv'd for a conveyance 
No search could ever find it 
Middleton, Women Beware Women, iii. 1. 
Some time ago, in digging at Portici, they found ruins 
under ground, and since that they have dug in search of 
antiquities. Pococke, Description of the East, II. ii. 205. 
Right pf search, in maritime law, the right claimed by 
one nation to authorize the commanders of their lawfully 
