slake

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 19, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>slake</strong> &#149; \SLAYK\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Slake</em> is a verb meaning "to <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satisfy">satisfy</a> or <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quench">quench</a>." It can also mean "to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hydrate#h2">hydrate</a>."</p> <p>// The quest to <em>slake</em> his <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wanderlust">wanderlust</a> was never-ending.</p> <p>// They <em>slaked</em> their thirst with cold lemonade.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slake">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The warm weather of late spring and summer brings certain wines to mind—racy rosés to <em>slake</em> our thirst, for example." — Dave McIntyre, <em>The Washington Post</em>, 1 June 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Have no fear, the Word of the Day is here to slake your thirst for knowledge. The uses of <em>slake</em> are varied and fluid. Its most common meaning is synonymous with <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satisfy"><em>satisfy</em></a> or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quench"><em>quench</em></a>—one can slake anything from curiosity to literal thirst. In chemistry, <em>slake</em> can mean "to cause a substance to heat and crumble by treatment with water," and is used specifically in the noun phrase <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/calcium-hydroxide"><em>slaked lime</em></a>, which refers to a compound used in binding agents such as plaster and cement. The word has some obsolete meanings as well: in Shakespearean times, <em>slake</em> meant "to subside or abate" or "to lessen the force of." The most <a href="http://www.merriam-we