Etymology From Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck.
To be saturated with liquid by being immersed in it.
I'm going to soak in the bath for a couple of hours.
Their land shall be soaked with blood.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 24:7:
2
To immerse in liquid to the point of saturation or thorough permeation.
Soak the beans overnight before cooking.
3
To penetrate or permeate by saturation.
The water soaked into my shoes and gave me wet feet.
The rivulet beneath […]soaked its way obscurely through wreaths of snow.1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
4
To allow (especially a liquid) to be absorbed; to take in, receive. (usually + up)
A sponge soaks up water; the skin soaks in moisture.
I soaked up all the knowledge I could at university.
1 more example
The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings:
5
Figuratively To overcharge or swindle out of a large amount of money.
It's a blackmail ring, and the district attorneys get a share of the loot. […] Well, they got him in the same kind of jam, and soaked him to the tune of three hundred and eighty-six thousand.1928, Upton Sinclair, Boston, New York, N.Y.: Albert & Charles Boni, page 337:
Sure, if we own an aerospace contracting company, a five-thousand-acre sugar-beet farm, or a savings and loan with the president's son on the board of directors, we can soak Uncle Sucker for millions.2015, P. J. O'Rourke, Thrown Under the Omnibus: A Reader:
1 more example
I think you’re totally right that there is a big constituency, especially now that the party has been transformed, of Republican- and populist-leaning Republican voters who would be fine with some soaking the rich in the context of a bigger budget deal. […] Just maintaining the changes to the state and local tax deduction that was, I think, one of the genuinely populist victories of the first Trump term. And I should say, it soaked me, it soaked the upper middle class in blue states.2025 January 31, Ross Douthat, “Steve Bannon on ‘Broligarchs’ vs. Populism”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
6
Dated, Slang To drink intemperately or gluttonously.
7
Engineering, Metallurgy, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To heat (a metal) before shaping it.
8
Ceramics, Chemistry, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To hold a kiln at a particular temperature for a given period of time.
We should soak the kiln at cone 9 for half an hour.
Etymology From Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck.
1
An immersion in water etc.
After the strenuous climb, I had a nice long soak in a bath.
wildlife tourism has turned Knepp into a successful business that employs more people than it did when it was a farm. Springtime overnighters snuggling down in a luxury treehouse after a soak in the open-air, wood-fired Swedish Hikki bathtub may hear nightingales serenading their consorts2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian:
Australia A low-lying depression that fills with water after rain.
I set off early to walk along the Melbourne Road where, one of the punters had told me, there was a soak with plenty of frogs in it.1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber & Faber, published 2003, page 38:
Molly and Daisy finished their breakfast and decided to take all their dirty clothes and wash them in the soak further down the river.1996, Doris Pinkington, “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence”, in Heiss, Minter, editors, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin, published 2008, page 170:
Etymology From Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck.
1
(slang, boxing) To hit or strike.
Wasn't Mr. Sipperley pretty shirty when he came to and found that you had been soaking him with putters?1926, [P.G. Wodehouse], The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy: