Parched ground

(Isaiah 35:7), Hebrews sharab, a "mirage", a phenomenon caused by the refraction of the rays of the sun on the glowing sands of the desert, causing them suddenly to assume the appearance of a beautiful lake. It is called by the modern Arabs by the same Hebrew name serab.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

(imp. & p. p.) of Parch.