drench, drenchen, drenche, dreinchen

t. & i. [A. S. drencan =to drench, drincan =to drink; cogn. with Dut. dranken to water a horse; Icel. drekkja = to drown, to swamp; Sw. dränka "Ripe grapes being moderately pre ed, their juice to drown, to steep; Ger. tränken =to water, to may, without much dreggy matter, be squeezed out." - soak.] Boyle. 2. Fig .: Filthy, vile, worthle . "Abhorrence of those dreggy , low delights."- Bates : Christian Religion proved by Reason , ch. i. drěgs, *dregges, s . pl . [Icel. dregg (pl. dreggjar ); cogn. with Sw. drägg ; prob. from Icel. drag a = to draw. ( Skeat .)] I. Lit .: The sediment, lees, or grounds of liquor; feculence. (Obsolete now in the singular.) "I kan selle dregges and draf." P. Plowman , 13,760. II. Figuratively : 1. The end, the bottom, the last. "I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past." -Shakesp.: Tempest , ii. 2. 2. Worthle refuse or vile matter; the refuse or most worthle part of anything. "Major-generals sprung from the dregs of the people." -Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. vi. Crabb thus discriminates between dregs , sed i ment , dro , scum, and refuse : "All these terms designate the worthle part of any body; but dregs is taken in a worse sense than sediment : for the dregs is that which is altogether of no value, but the sediment may sometimes form a nece ary part of the body. The dregs are mostly a sediment in liquors, but many things are a sediment which are not dregs . After the dregs are taken away, there will frequently remain a sediment ; the dregs are commonly the currupt part which separates from compound liquids, as wine or beer; the sediment consists of the heavy particles which belong to all simple liquids, not excepting water itself. The dregs and sediment separate of themselves, but the scum and dro are forced out by a proce ; the former from liquids, and the latter from solid bodies rendered liquid or otherwise. Refuse , as its derivation implies, is always said of that which is intentionally separated to be thrown away, and agrees with the former terms only in as much as they expre what is worthle . Of these terms, dregs, scum , and refuse admit likewise of a figurative application. The dregs and scum of the people are the corruptest part of any society; and the refuse is that which is most worthle and unfit for a respectable community." (Crabb: Eng. Synon .) *dregh, *dreg he, *dreigh, a., adv . & s. [Icel. drjúgr; Sw. dryg ; Dan. droi.] IMG:content-0516.png:[blocks in formation] "And they are now ganging as dreigh and sober as our sells the day." -Scott: Bride of Lammer moor, ch. xxxv. *B. As adv.: Fiercely, violently. "Quat draues thou so dreghghe, and mace suche deray?" Anturs of Arthur, st. xl. *C. As subst.: Violence. "When the dregh was don of the derke night." Destruction of Troy, 678. *dregh-ly, *dre-ly, adv. [Icel. drjúgliga .] Strongly, greatly, much. "And thou drynk drely in thy potle wylle it synk." Towneley Mysteries , p. 90. *dreint, *drent, pa . par . & a. [DRENCH.] A. As pa . par .: (See the verb.) B. As adjective: 1. Lit.: Drowned. 2. Fig.: Overwhelmed. "But our own selves, that here in dole are drent." Spenser: Astrophel , 310. dreis-se-na, s. [Named after Drey en, a Belgian physician.] Zool.: A genus of mollusks, family Mytilide. The shell is like that of the typical genus Mytilus, but IMG:content-0517.png:[blocks in formation] "A drench is a potion or drink prepared for a sick horse, and composed of several drugs in a liquid form." -Farriers' Dictionary. *3. A channel of water. drěnçhed, pa. par. or a. [DRENCH, v.] drěnch-er, s. [Eng. drench; -er.] 1. One who or that which drenches, saturates, or soaks. 2. One who administers physic to animals. 3. A very heavy shower of rain. drěnch-ing, pr. par., a. & 8. [DRENCH, U.] A. & B. As pr. par. & particip. adj.: (See the verb.) C. As substantive: 1. The act of soaking or saturating with wet. 2. The state of being soaked or saturated. drenching-apparatus, s . A jaw-opener and head-lifter by which drenches may be administered to animals without their being able to bite the bottle or horn, or the arm of the operator.