Dry | Mean of dry in English Dictionary

/ˈdraɪ/

• having no or very little water or liquid
1. a dry riverbed
2. Mix the dry ingredients first, then add the milk and eggs.
3. a cool, dry place
4. Wipe the surface dry. [=wipe the surface until it is dry]
5. The air is usually dry during the winter. [=there is very little moisture in the air]
6. the dry heat of the desert
7. We tried to stay/keep dry in the rain by standing under a tree.
8. The stream is usually (as) dry as a bone [=completely dry] this time of year.
9. The stream is bone dry.
• no longer wet
1. Are the clothes dry yet?
2. The paint should be dry in a few hours.
• having no rain or little rain
1. This has been an unusually dry summer. [=there has been little rain this summer]
2. a stretch of dry weather
3. a dry spell/season
4. a country with a very dry climate
5. This plant does well in dry conditions.

• not having the usual or desired amount of moisture
1. My throat is dry.
2. My lips are dry.
3. dry, itchy skin
4. dry hair
5. The medication can cause dry mouth. [=a condition in which the inside of your mouth become very dry]
• having the moisture removed by cooking or some other process
1. The chicken was dry and tasteless.
2. dry [=powdered] milk
• not producing a wet substance
1. a dry cough [=a cough that does not produce any phlegm]
2. The baby stayed dry all night. [=the baby did not urinate all night]
3. His eyes were dry. [=there were no tears in his eyes]
4. When the hero proclaimed his love for the heroine at the end of the play, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
• no longer producing water, oil, etc.
1. a dry well
2. a dry oil well
3. The well went/ran dry.
4. (chiefly US) They drilled for oil but the well came up dry.
5. The author went through a dry [=unproductive] period and couldn't write anything.
6. The group stayed together despite several dry [=unsuccessful] years.
7. They went searching for clues but came up dry. [=came up empty]
• served or eaten without butter, jam, etc.
1. a breakfast of dry toast and coffee
• not sweet
1. a very dry red wine
2. dry sherry
• not interesting, exciting, or emotional
1. The novel included several long, dry [=boring] passages.
2. His lectures were usually very dry.
• funny or clever but expressed in a quiet or serious way
1. He has a very dry sense of humor.
2. a dry wit
• not having or offering alcoholic beverages
1. a dry party
• not allowing alcoholic beverages
1. The college campus has been dry for 10 years.
2. a dry state/county [=a state/county where alcoholic beverages cannot be sold]
• not drinking alcoholic beverages
1. He's been dry [=sober] for several years now.
• to take or use up everything from (someone or something)
1. He married her for her money and then bled her dry.
2. She milked the system dry.
• Verb
• to remove water or moisture from (something or someone)
1. I'll wash the dishes if you dry them.
2. Make sure you dry your hands.
3. He dried himself with the towel.
4. Stop crying and dry your eyes.
• to make plates, dishes, pots, etc., dry by rubbing them with a towel
1. I'll wash and you dry, okay?
• to become dry
1. Your shirt is drying on the clothesline.
2. The paint dried overnight.
• to make your body dry
1. We got out of the pool and dried off.
• to make (someone or something) dry
1. He dried off the bench and sat down.
2. Dry yourself off and get dressed.
• to make (something) dry
1. The wind dries out my eyes.
2. Baking at a high temperature will dry the meat out.
3. We dried out our shoes near the fire.
• to stop using drugs or alcohol for a period of time especially by going to a special kind of hospital
1. After years of alcoholism, he went to a clinic to dry out.
• to become completely dry
1. The river/well is drying up.
2. The stream dries up every summer.
• to go away or disappear completely
1. Interest in the project dried up when he withdrew his support.
2. After several months, new leads in the murder investigation dried up.
• to cause the supply of (something) to go away or disappear
1. Closing the factory dried up local job opportunities.