drench /drentʃ/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: drencan ; related to drink ]
to make something or someone extremely wet:
In the early morning they had got drenched in the grass.
—drenching /ˈdrentʃɪŋ/ adjective :
drenching rain
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THESAURUS
▪ wet to put water or another liquid onto something to make it wet. In spoken English, people will often use get something wet rather than wet :
He wet the washcloth and washed Tom’s face.
▪ splash to make someone or something wet by making a lot of small drops of water fall onto them:
The kids were playing around in the pool, splashing each other.
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I accidentally splashed soup onto my shirt.
▪ soak to put something in water for a long time or to make something very wet – use this especially when something is put into water or the water comes up from underneath to make it wet:
Soak the beans overnight before cooking.
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The rain had come in through the bottom of our tent and completely soaked our clothes.
▪ drench to make someone or something extremely wet with a large amount of water – use this especially when water is poured or falls on something:
He drenched us all with the hose.
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Her shirt was drenched in sweat.
▪ saturate formal to completely cover or fill something with liquid, so that it is wet all the way through:
Heavy rains had saturated the ground.
▪ flood to cover an area of land with a large amount of water:
Farmers flood the fields in order to grow rice.
▪ moisten to make something slightly wet by putting a small amount of water or another liquid on it, especially to stop it from getting too dry:
Add just enough water to moisten the cake mixture.
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Tom paused and moistened his lips.
▪ dampen to make something slightly wet by putting a little water on it:
Rain came in through the window, dampening the curtains.