drench

Drench is a term with several related meanings centered on the idea of soaking or saturating with liquid. As a verb, drench means to saturate something or someone thoroughly with liquid, often quickly. It can apply to weather, objects, or people, for example a sudden storm that drenches a crowd or a towel drenched in water. It can also be used transitively, as in to drench the floor with a bucket of water or to drench a plant with irrigation. As a noun, drench describes a dose of liquid medicine administered orally, especially to animals, or the act of giving such a dose. In veterinary and agricultural practice, a drench is typically a measured suspension containing a dewormer or other therapeutic agent delivered by mouth with a syringe or bottle.

Drench is also used to describe a heavy fall of rain, leading to widespread wetness, or to the adjective drenched, meaning completely soaked. In everyday language, phrases such as "we were drenched" convey the result of exposure to rain or other liquids.

Usage contexts vary: in medicine, historically "drenching" referred to delivering a liquid medicine by mouth as a purge or treatment; today this use is uncommon outside veterinary or specialized medical contexts. In animal care, drenches remain common for deworming or providing electrolytes and vitamins to livestock and horses. The term remains widely understood in both weather-related and agricultural contexts.