scorch
v.v. to burn the surface of something slightly, often changing its color or texture. You might do this by accident with a hot iron or on purpose when cooking food.
v. to burn a surface slightly so as to affect its colour or texture without consuming the object entirely. Often implies the application of dry heat or a flame.
The hot iron left a brown scorch mark on my white shirt.
Be careful not to scorch the milk while heating it, as it will ruin the flavor of the sauce.
The intense summer sun began to scorch the delicate leaves of the garden plants, forcing the gardener to install a temporary shade cloth.
From Middle English scorchen, scorcnen (“to make dry; parch”), perhaps an alteration of earlier *scorpnen, from Old Norse skorpna (“to shrivel up”).
The verb is transitive when referring to the act of burning an object, but can be intransitive when describing the effect of heat.