See Also: soak(medicine)
soak(1)(dictionary)
soak(2)(dictionary)
Soak-Up Tax(law)
soak 1, verb(dictionary)
soak 2, noun(dictionary)

soak(2) (iou)



soak verb. .
[Old English socian from weak grade of sucan SUCK verb (cf. soc sucking at the breast).]
I. verb intrans.
a. Become saturated with a liquid by being immersed in it; become thoroughly wet or soft in this manner. OE.
M. Wesley She ran a bath and..soaked in the hot water.
b. Of a metal ingot or ceramic object: become heated uniformly in a furnace or kiln. M19.
a. Percolate; penetrate into by saturation, filter through, seep out, up, etc. LME.
G. Greene The rain..soaked through the brown leaves in the square. M. Duffy Sweat had soaked up into his clothes.
b. Of heat: penetrate through the mass of a metal ingot or ceramic object until it is at a uniform temperature. E20.
Drink heavily or to excess. Cf. earlier SOAKER 2. colloq. L17.
Wilfrid Gibson He liked his drink, but he had never cared For soaking by himself.
II. verb trans.
Saturate by immersion in a liquid; wet or permeate thoroughly; drench. ME.
L. Chamberlain Soak the herring in milk. Wilbur Smith The dressing was soaked with fresh blood.
b. fig. Imbue thoroughly with a quality etc., make profoundly acquainted with a subject of study etc., (usu. in pass.); refl. immerse (oneself) in a subject of study etc. ME.
soaked to the skin (of a person) drenched by rain, thoroughly wet.
George Eliot We soak our children in habits of contempt. Motorboats Monthly Wells is soaked in tradition.
a. Draw or suck out; cause to seep out by means of soaking. LME.
b. Drain, exhaust. obsolete exc. dial. L16.
Allow (liquid) to sink in; absorb; fig. receive into the mind easily or copiously as by absorption. Usu. foll. by up. M16.
E. David There is a good deal of..juice; for soaking it up one needs plenty of bread. E. Pawel They had come to soak up sun rather than culture.
b. Drink (liquor), esp. to excess. Also foll. by up. L17.
a. Bake (bread etc.) thoroughly. L17.
b. Maintain a (metal ingot or ceramic object) at a constant temperature for a period to ensure uniform heating. E20.
Make drunk; refl. drink heavily or to excess. colloq. M18.
E. O'Neill Like a rum-soaked trooper..on a Saturday.
Put (something) in pawn. slang. L19.
D. Hammett The banks were closed, so he soaked his watch.
Punch, hit hard; punish; criticize harshly. US slang. L19.
soak it to = sock it to s.v. SOCK verb1.
H. L. Wilson If he gets fancy with you, soak him again.
Impose an extortionate charge or tax on; extort money from. colloq. L19.
M. French She was angry, so she really soaked him. She asked for fifteen thousand.
Comb.: soakaway a pit into which waste water flows in order to drain slowly out into the surrounding soil; soak-hole (a) Austral. an enclosed place in a stream, used for washing sheep; (b) a hole into or from which water etc. soaks or drains away; soak-the-rich adjective designating a policy of progressive taxation; soakway = soakaway above.