Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SCALD, v.t. [It. scaldare; Sp. and Port. escaldar; Fr. echauder, for eschalder; Sw. skolla; Dan. skaalder; Ir. sgallaim; from the root of L. caleo, calda, calidus. I suppose the primary sense of caleo is to contract, to draw, to make hard.]

1. To burn or painfully affect and injure by immersion in or contact with a liquor of a boiling heat, or a heat approaching it; As to scald the hand or foot. We scald the part, when the heat of the liquor applied is so violent as to injure the skin and flesh. Scald is sometimes used to express the effect of the heat of other substances than liquids. Here the blue flames of scalding brimstone fall. Cowley.
2. To expose to a boiling or violent heat over a fire, or in water or other liquor; as, to scald meat or milk.