Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sear \Sear\, Sere \Sere\ (s[=e]r), a.
   [OE. seer, AS. se['a]r (assumed) fr. se['a]rian to wither;
   akin to D. zoor dry, LG. soor, OHG. sor[=e]n to to wither,
   Gr. a"y`ein to parch, to dry, Skr. [,c]ush (for sush) to dry,
   to wither, Zend hush to dry. [root]152. Cf. {Austere},
   {Sorrel}, a.] Dry; withered; no longer green; -- applied to
   leaves. --Milton.

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

Sear \Sear\, n. [F. serre a grasp, pressing, fr. L. sera. See
   {Serry}.]
   The catch in a gunlock by which the hammer is held cocked or
   half cocked.

   {Sear spring}, the spring which causes the sear to catch in
      the notches by which the hammer is held.

Sear \Sear\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Seared}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Searing}.] [OE. seeren, AS. se['a]rian. See {Sear}, a.]
   1. To wither; to dry up. --Shak.

   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.        --Rowe.

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

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

   Note: Sear is allied to scorch in signification; but it is
         applied primarily to animal flesh, and has special
         reference to the effect of heat in marking the surface
         hard. Scorch is applied to flesh, cloth, or any other
         substance, and has no reference to the effect of
         hardness.

   {To sear}, to close by searing. ``Cherish veins of good
      humor, and sear up those of ill.'' --Sir W. Temple.

Source : WordNet®

sear
     adj : (used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture;
           "dried-up grass"; "the desert was edged with sere
           vegetation"; "shriveled leaves on the unwatered
           seedlings"; "withered vines" [syn: {dried-up}, {sere},
           {shriveled}, {shrivelled}, {withered}]

sear
     v 1: make very hot and dry; "The heat scorched the countryside"
          [syn: {scorch}]
     2: become superficially burned; "my eyebrows singed when I bent
        over the flames" [syn: {scorch}, {singe}]
     3: cause to wither or parch from exposure to heat; "The sun
        parched the earth" [syn: {parch}]