Both Uses of
sear
in
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
- He knew then, and he was gripped by a pain as gritty and searing as the hot sand beneath his feet.†
p. 193.6
- And then suddenly the knowledge was hers, irrevocable, searing: all those years of silence, when he would not speak of their lost daughter, David had been keeping this record of her absence.†
p. 364.7 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(sear as in: searing the meat) to scorch or burn the surface of something; or to be very hot
-
(2)
(sear as in: a searing pain or memory) intense (figuratively to burn into the mind)
-
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely, sear can mean dry or refer to part of a gun.