To drench means to make something completely soaked with water or another liquid. When you get drenched in a rainstorm, you're thoroughly wet, with water dripping from your hair and clothes. A sudden downpour can drench anyone caught outside without an umbrella in seconds.

The word suggests total saturation with liquid. If you splash through a puddle and get your shoes damp, that's not drenched. But if you fall into a pool fully clothed, or if someone dumps a bucket of water over your head, now you're drenched. Firefighters drench burning buildings with powerful streams of water from their hoses.

You can also drench food with a liquid, like drenching pancakes in syrup or drenching a salad in dressing. In these cases, the word means pouring so much liquid that it completely covers or saturates what you're eating.

The feeling of being drenched is usually unpleasant and uncomfortable when it's unexpected, like getting caught in a thunderstorm. But sometimes getting drenched is exactly what you want, like jumping into a lake on a scorching summer day.