WORD OF THE DAY
The adjective scalding describes extremely hot liquid. Wait for your hot chocolate to cool off a bit before you take a sip — it's scalding!
Anything that's scalding is too hot. It's not quite boiling, but scalding tea will burn your mouth, and a scalding bath needs some cold water added to it. Figuratively, scalding things hurt as badly as a burn: "The scalding review of her book devastated her." The phrase scalding hot came into use in the 1400s; earlier, people said "scald hot." Scalding and the verb scald derive from the Late Latin excaldare, "bathe in very hot water."
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Vocabulary lists containing scalding
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