Etch
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
etch
v 1: make an etching of; "He etched her image into the surface"
2: cause to stand out or be clearly defined or visible; "a face
etched with pain"; "the leafless branches etched against the
sky"
3: carve or cut into a block used for printing or print from
such a block; "engrave a letter" [syn: {engrave}, {etch}]
4: carve or cut a design or letters into; "engrave the pen with
the owner's name" [syn: {engrave}, {etch}]
5: selectively dissolve the surface of (a semiconductor or
printed circuit) with a solvent, laser, or stream of
electrons
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Etch \Etch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Etched}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Etching}.] [D. etsen, G. [aum]tzen to feed, corrode, etch.
MHG. etzen, causative of ezzen to eat, G. essen ??. See
{Eat}.]
1. To produce, as figures or designs, on mental, glass, or
the like, by means of lines or strokes eaten in or
corroded by means of some strong acid.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The plate is first covered with varnish, or some other
ground capable of resisting the acid, and this is then
scored or scratched with a needle, or similar
instrument, so as to form the drawing; the plate is
then covered with acid, which corrodes the metal in the
lines thus laid bare.
[1913 Webster]
2. To subject to etching; to draw upon and bite with acid, as
a plate of metal.
[1913 Webster]
I was etching a plate at the beginning of 1875.
--Hamerton.
[1913 Webster]
3. To sketch; to delineate. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
There are many empty terms to be found in some
learned writes, to which they had recourse to etch
out their system. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "etch":
bed, bite, bring home to, carve, confirm, corrode, cut, deep-dye,
define, delineate, depict, describe, eat, eat into, eat out, embed,
engraft, engrave, engrave on, entrench, establish, fix, found,
grave, ground, impact, implant, impress, impress upon, imprint,
incise, inculcate, infix, ingrain, inscribe, instill, jam, lodge,
make it felt, outline, pack, picture, plant, portray, print,
represent, root, score, scratch, seat, set, set forth, set in,
settle, stamp, stamp on, stereotype, wedge
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