Dry

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive), Adjective, Adverb

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Dry, adj., v., & n.
--adj. (drier; driest)
1 free from moisture, not wet, esp.: a with any moisture having evaporated, drained, or been wiped away (the clothes are not dry yet). b (of the eyes) free from tears. c (of a climate etc.) with insufficient rainfall; not rainy (a dry spell). d (of a river, well, etc.) dried up; not yielding water. e (of a liquid) having disappeared by evaporation etc. f not connected with or for use without moisture (dry shampoo). g (of a shave) with an electric razor.
2 (of wine etc.) not sweet (dry sherry).
3 a meagre, plain, or bare (dry facts). b uninteresting; dull (dry as dust).
4 (of a sense of humour, a joke, etc.) subtle, ironic, and quietly expressed; not obvious.
5 (of a country, of legislation, etc.) prohibiting the sale of alcoholic drink.
6 (of toast, bread, etc.) without butter, margarine, etc.
7 (of provisions, groceries, etc.) solid, not liquid (dry goods).
8 impassive, unsympathetic; hard; cold.
9 (of a cow etc.) not yielding milk.
10 colloq. thirsty or thirst-making (feel dry; this is dry work).
11 Polit. colloq. of or being a political 'dry'.
--v. (dries, dried)
1 tr. & intr. make or become dry by wiping, evaporation, draining, etc.
2 tr. (usu. as dried adj.) preserve (food etc.) by removing the moisture (dried egg; dried fruit; dried flowers).
3 intr. (often foll. by up) Theatr. colloq. forget one's lines.
4 tr. & intr. (often foll. by off) cease or cause (a cow etc.) to cease yielding milk.
--n. (pl. dries)
1 the process or an instance of drying.
2 sl. a politician, esp. a Conservative, who advocates individual responsibility, free trade, and economic stringency, and opposes high government spending.
3 a (prec. by the) esp. Austral. colloq. the dry season. b Austral. a desert area, waterless country.
4 a dry ginger ale. b dry wine, sherry, etc.

Idiom

dry battery Electr. an electric battery consisting of dry cells. dry cell Electr. a cell in which the electrolyte is absorbed in a solid and cannot be spilled. dry-clean clean (clothes etc.) with organic solvents without using water. dry-cleaner a firm that specializes in dry-cleaning. dry cough a cough not producing phlegm. dry-cure cure (meat etc.) without pickling in liquid. dry dock an enclosure for the building or repairing of ships, from which water can be pumped out. dry-fly adj. (of fishing) with an artificial fly floating on the surface.
--v.intr. (-flies, -flied) fish by such a method. dry ice solid carbon dioxide. dry land land as opposed to the sea, a river, etc. dry measure a measure of capacity for dry goods. dry milk US dried milk. dry-nurse a nurse for young children, not required to breast-feed. dry out
1 become fully dry.
2 (of a drug addict, alcoholic, etc.) undergo treatment to cure addiction. dry-plate Photog. a photographic plate with sensitized film hard and dry for convenience of keeping, developing at leisure, etc.
dry-point
1 a needle for engraving on a bare copper plate without acid.
2 an engraving produced with this.
dry rot
1 a decayed state of wood when not ventilated, caused by certain fungi.
2 these fungi. dry run colloq. a rehearsal. dry-salt = dry-cure. dry-salter a dealer in dyes, gums, drugs, oils, pickles, tinned meats, etc. dry-shod without wetting the shoes.
dry up
1 make utterly dry.
2 dry dishes.
3 (of moisture) disappear utterly.
4 (of a well etc.) cease to yield water.
5 colloq. (esp. in imper.) cease talking. go dry enact legislation for the prohibition of alcohol.

Derivative

dryish adj. dryness n.

Etymology

OE dryge, drygan, rel. to MLG dr{ouml}ge, MDu. droghe, f. Gmc

THESAURUS

Dry

Rabelaisian, Saharan, Spartan, WCTU, acarpous, acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acescent, acetose, acid, acidulous, air-dry, anhydrate, anhydrous, antisaloon, apathetic, arid, ascetic, athirst, austere, bake, baked, bald, bare, barren, blah, blank, blast-freeze, bleed, bleed white, bloodless, blot, bone-dry, brassy, brazen, brine, broken-record, bromidic, brush, burn, cake, candid, caustic, celibate, characterless, childless, choked, coarse, cold, colorless, common, commonplace, concrete, congeal, corn, crab, crabbed, cracked, croaking, croaky, cure, cynical, dead, dehumidify, dehydrate, dehydrated, denude, deplete, depleted, deplume, desert, desiccate, desiccated, desolate, despoil, direct, discreet, dismal, displume, divest, draggy, drain, drained, drearisome, dreary, dried-up, droughty, dry as dust, dry-cure, dry-salt, dryasdust, dull, dusty, earthbound, effete, elephantine, embalm, empty, etiolated, evaporate, everlasting, exhaust, exhausted, exsiccate, fade, fallow, fire, flat, flay, fleece, frank, freeze, freeze-dry, fruitless, fume, gaunt, gelded, grating, green, gruff, guttural, harping, harsh, harsh-sounding, heavy, high and dry, ho-hum, hoarse, hollow, homely, homespun, humdrum, husky, impotent, impoverish, impoverished, inane, indurate, ineffectual, inexcitable, infecund, infertile, insipid, insolate, invariable, ironic, irradiate, issueless, jarring, jejune, jerk, jog-trot, juiceless, kiln, kipper, leached, leaden, lean, lifeless, like parchment, literal, long-winded, low-spirited, marinade, marinate, matter-of-fact, menopausal, metallic, milk, modest, moistureless, monotonous, mummify, mundane, natural, neat, nonfertile, nonproducing, nonproductive, nonprolific, open, pale, pallid, parch, parched, pedestrian, phlegmatic, pick clean, pickle, pickled, plain, plain-speaking, plain-spoken, plodding, pluck, pointless, poky, ponderous, preservatize, prohibitionist, prolix, prosaic, prosing, prosy, pungent, pure, quick-freeze, ragged, rasping, raucid, raucous, refrigerate, rough, roupy, rub, rude, rugged, rustic, salt, sandy, sapless, sapped, sarcastic, sardonic, satiric, scorch, sear, season, sec, sere, set, severe, shear, shovel, shrivel, simple, simple-speaking, sine prole, singsong, skin, slow, smoke, smoke-cure, soak up, sober, solemn, solidify, sour, sour as vinegar, soured, sourish, spare, spiritless, sponge, squawking, squawky, staid, stark, sterile, stertorous, stiff, stodgy, stoic, stolid, straightforward, strangled, strident, stridulous, strip, strip bare, stuff, stuffy, suck dry, sucked dry, sun, sun-dry, superficial, swab, tart, tartish, tasteless, tedious, teemless, teetotal, thick, thirsting, thirsty, throaty, tinny, torrefy, towel, treadmill, unadorned, unaffected, uncultivated, undamped, unembellished, uneventful, unfanciful, unfertile, unfruitful, ungarnished, unideal, unimaginative, uninspired, uninteresting, uninventive, unlively, unoriginal, unplowed, unpoetic, unpoetical, unpretentious, unproductive, unprolific, unripe, unromantic, unromanticized, unsown, unsweet, unsweetened, untilled, unvarnished, unvarying, unwatered, vapid, vinegarish, vinegary, virgin, waste, wasted, waterless, weariful, wearisome, weazen, wipe, wither, without issue, wizen, wooden

ROGET THESAURUS

Dry

Feebleness

N feebleness, feeble, bald, tame, meager, jejune, vapid, bland, trashy, lukewarm, cold, frigid, poor, dull, dry, languid, colorless, enervated, proposing, prosy, prosaic, unvaried, monotonous, weak, washy, wishy- washy, sketchy, slight, careless, slovenly, loose, lax (negligent), slipshod, slipslop, inexact, puerile, childish, flatulent, rambling.

Plainness

N plainness, simplicity, severity, plain terms, plain English, Saxon English, household words, plain, simple, unornamented, unadorned, unvarnished, homely, homespun, neat, severe, chaste, pure, Saxon, commonplace, matter-of- fact, natural, prosaic, dry, unvaried, monotonous, in plain terms, in plain words, in plain English, in plain common parlance, point-blank.

Inelegance

N inelegance, stiffness, unlettered Muse, barbarism, slang, solecism, mannerism, euphuism, fustian, cacophony, words that break the teeth, words that dislocate the jaw, marinism, inelegant, graceless, ungraceful, harsh, abrupt, dry, stiff, cramped, formal, guinde, forced, labored, artificial, mannered, ponderous, awkward, uncourtly, unpolished, turgid, affected, euphuistic, barbarous, uncouth, grotesque, rude, crude, halting, offensive to ears polite, Spoken Language.

Aphony

N aphony, aphonia, dumbness, obmutescence, absence of voice, want of voice, dysphony, cacoepy, silence, raucity, harsh voice &c, unmusical voice, falsetto, childish treble mute, dummy, aphonous, dumb, mute, deafmute, deaf and dumb, mum, tongue-tied, breathless, tongueless, voiceless, speechless, wordless, mute as a fish, mute as a stockfish, mute as a mackerel, silent, muzzled, inarticulate, inaudible, croaking, raucous, hoarse, husky, dry, hollow, sepulchral, hoarse as a raven, rough, with bated breath, with the finger on the lips, sotto voce, in a low tone, in a cracked voice, in a broken voice, vox faucibus haesit.

Insufficiency

N insufficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, incompetence, deficiency, imperfection, shortcoming, paucity, stint, scantiness, none to spare, bare subsistence, scarcity, dearth, want, need, lack, poverty, exigency, inanition, starvation, famine, drought, dole, mite, pittance, short allowance, short commons, half rations, banyan day, emptiness, poorness, depletion, vacancy, flaccidity, ebb tide, low water, a beggarly account of empty boxes, indigence, insolvency, drain of resources, impoverish, stint, put on short allowance, do insufficiently, scotch the snake, Adj, insufficient, inadequate, too little, not enough, unequal to, incompetent, weighed in the balance and found wanting, perfunctory, deficient, wanting imperfect, ill-furnished, ill-provided, ill- stored, ill-off, slack, at a low ebb, empty, vacant, bare, short of, out of, destitute of, devoid of, bereft of, denuded of, dry, drained, unprovided, unsupplied, unfurnished, unreplenished, unfed, unstored, untreasured, empty-handed, meager, poor, thin, scrimp, sparing, spare, stinted, starved, starving, halfstarved, famine-stricken, famished, jejune, scant, scarce, not to be had, not to be had for love or money, not to be had at any price, scurvy, stingy, at the end of one's tether, without resources, in want, in debt, insufficiently, in default of, for want of, failing, semper avarus eget.

Preservation

VB preserve, maintain, keep, sustain, support, hold, keep up, keep alive, refrigerate, keep on ice, not willingly let die, bank up, nurse, save, rescue, be safe, make safe, take care of, guard, stare super antiquas vias, hold one's own, hold one's ground, stand one's ground, embalm, cure, salt, pickle, season, kyanize, bottle, pot, tin, can, sterilize, pasteurize, radiate, dry, lyophilize, freeze- dry, concentrate, evaporate, freeze, quick-freeze, deep-freeze, husband.

Taking

VB take, catch, hook, nab, bag, sack, pocket, put into one's pocket, receive, accept, reap, crop, cull, pluck, gather, draw, appropriate, expropriate, impropriate, assume, possess oneself of, take possession of, commandeer, lay one's hands on, clap one's hands on, help oneself to, make free with, dip one's hands into, lay under contribution, intercept, scramble for, deprive of, take away, carry away, bear away, take off, carry off, bear off, adeem, abstract, hurry off with, run away with, abduct, steal, ravish, seize, pounce upon, spring upon, swoop to, swoop down upon, take by storm, take by assault, snatch, reave, snap up, nip up, whip up, catch up, kidnap, crimp, capture, lay violent hands on, get hold of, lay hold of, take hold of, catch hold of, lay fast hold of, take firm hold of, lay by the heels, take prisoner, fasten upon, grip, grapple, embrace, gripe, clasp, grab, clutch, collar, throttle, take by the throat, claw, clinch, clench, make sure of, catch at, jump at, make a grab at, snap at, snatch at, reach, make a long arm, stretch forth one's hand, take from, take away from, disseize, deduct, retrench, dispossess, ease one of, snatch from one's grasp, tear from, tear away from, wrench from, wrest from, wring from, extort, deprive of, bereave, disinherit, cut off with a shilling, oust, divest, levy, distrain, confiscate, sequester, sequestrate, accroach, usurp, despoil, strip, fleece, shear, displume, impoverish, eat out of house and home, drain, drain to the dregs, gut, dry, exhaust, swallow up, absorb, draw off, suck the blood of, suck like a leech, retake, resume, recover.

Weariness

N weariness, defatigation, lassitude, drowsiness, disgust, nausea, loathing, sickness, satiety, taedium vitae, boredom, ennui, wearisomeness, tediousness, dull work, tedium, monotony, twice-told tale, bore, buttonholer, proser, wet blanket, pill, stiff, heavy hours, the enemy (time), wearying, wearing, wearisome, tiresome, irksome, uninteresting, stupid, bald, devoid of interest, dry, monotonous, dull, arid, tedious, humdrum, mortal, flat, prosy, prosing, slow, soporific, somniferous, disgusting, unenjoyed, weary, tired, drowsy, uninterested, flagging, used up, worn out, blase, life-weary, weary of life, sick of, wearily, usque ad nauseam, time hanging heavily on one's hands, toujours perdrix, crambe repetita.

Desire

N desire, wish, fancy, fantasy, want, need, exigency, mind, inclination, leaning, bent, animus, partiality, penchant, predilection, propensity, willingness, liking, love, fondness, relish, longing, hankering, inkling, solicitude, anxiety, yearning, coveting, aspiration, ambition, vaulting ambition, eagerness, zeal, ardor, empressement, breathless impatience, overanxiety, impetuosity, appetite, appetition, appetence, appetency, sharp appetite, keenness, hunger, stomach, twist, thirst, thirstiness, drouth, mouthwatering, itch, itching, prurience, cacoethes, cupidity, lust, concupiscence, edge of appetite, edge of hunger, torment of Tantalus, sweet tooth, lickerish tooth, itching palm, longing eye, wistful eye, sheep's eye, greed, voracity, passion, rage, furore, mania, manie, inextinguishable desire, dipsomania, kleptomania, lover, amateur, votary, devotee, aspirant, solicitant, candidate, applicant, supplicant, cormorant, desideratum, want, a consummation devoutly to be wished, attraction, magnet, allurement, fancy, temptation, seduction, fascination, prestige, height of one's ambition, idol, whim, whimsy, whimsey, maggot, hobby, hobby-horse, Fortunatus's cap, wishing cap, wishing stone, wishing well, desirous, desiring, inclined, partial to, fain, wishful, optative, anxious, wistful, curious, at a loss for, sedulous, solicitous, craving, hungry, sharp-set, peckish, ravening, with an empty stomach, esurient, lickerish, thirsty, athirst, parched with thirst, pinched with hunger, famished, dry, drouthy, hungry as a hunter, hungry as a hawk, hungry as a horse, hungry as a church mouse, hungry as a bear, greedy, unsatisfied, unsated, unslaked, unsaturated, eager, avid, keen, burning, fervent, ardent, agog, all agog, breathless, impatient, bent on, intent on, set on, bent upon, intent upon, set upon, mad after, enrage, rabid, dying for, devoured by desire, aspiring, ambitious, vaulting, skyaspiring, high-reaching, desirable, desired, in demand, pleasing, appetizing, appetible, tantalizing, wistfully, fain, Int, would that, would that it were!, O for!, esto perpetual, the wish being father to the thought, sua cuique voluptas, hoc erat in votis, the mouth watering, the fingers itching, aut Caesar aut nullus, Cassius has a lean and hungry look, hungry as the grave, I was born to other things, not what we wish but what we want, such joy ambition finds, the sea hath bounds but deep desire hath none, ubi mel ibi apes.

Disapprobation

N disapprobation, disapproval, improbation, disesteem, disvaluation, displacency, odium, dislike, dispraise, discommendation, blame, censure, obloquy, detraction, disparagement, depreciation, denunciation, condemnation, ostracism, black list, animadversion, reflection, stricture, objection, exception, criticism, sardonic grin, sardonic laugh, sarcasm, insinuation, innuendo, bad compliment, poor compliment, left-handed compliment, satire, sneer, taunt, cavil, carping, censoriousness, hypercriticism, reprehension, remonstrance, expostulation, reproof, reprobation, admonition, increpation, reproach, rebuke, reprimand, castigation, jobation, lecture, curtain lecture, blow up, wigging, dressing, rating, scolding, trimming, correction, set down, rap on the knuckles, coup de bec, rebuff, slap, slap on the face, home thrust, hit, frown, scowl, black look, diatribe, jeremiad, jeremiade, tirade, philippic, clamor, outcry, hue and cry, hiss, hissing, sibilance, sibilation, catcall, execration, chiding, upbraiding, exprobation, abuse, vituperation, invective, objurgation, contumely, hard words, cutting words, bitter words, evil-speaking, bad language, personality, disapproving, scandalized, disparaging, condemnatory, damnatory, denunciatory, reproachful, abusive, objurgatory, clamorous, vituperative, defamatory, satirical, sarcastic, sardonic, cynical, dry, sharp, cutting, biting, severe, withering, trenchant, hard upon, censorious, critical, captious, carping, hypercritical, fastidious, sparing of praise, grudging praise, disapproved, chid, in bad odor, blown upon, unapproved, unblest, at a discount, exploded, weighed in the balance and found wanting, blameworthy, reprehensible, to blame, worthy of blame, answerable, uncommendable, exceptionable, not to be thought of, bad, vicious, unlamented, unbewailed, unpitied, with a wry face, reproachfully, Int, it is too bad!, it won't do, it will never do!, marry come up!, Oh!, come!, 'sdeath!, forbid it Heaven!, God forbid, Heaven forbid!, out upon, fie upon it!, away with!, tut!, O tempora!, O mores!, shame!, fie, fie for shame!, out on you!, tell it not in Gath!.

Temperance

N temperance, moderation, sobriety, soberness, forbearance, abnegation, self-denial, self-restraint, self-control, frugality, vegetarianism, teetotalism, total abstinence, abstinence, abstemiousness, Encratism, prohibition, system of Pythagoras, system of Cornaro, Pythagorism, Stoicism, vegetarian, Pythagorean, gymnosophist, teetotaler, abstainer, designated driver, Encratite, fruitarian, hydropot, temperate, moderate, sober, frugal, sparing, abstemious, abstinent, within compass, measured, on the wagon, on the water wagon, dry, Pythagorean, vegetarian, teetotal, appetitus rationi obediant, l'abstenir pour jouir c'est l'epicurisme de la rai, trahit sua quemque voluptas.

Dryness

VB be dry, render dry, dry, dry up, soak up, sponge, swab, wipe, drain, desiccate, dehydrate, exsiccate, parch, kiln dry, vacuum dry, blow dry, oven dry, hang out to dry, mummify, be fine, hold up.

N dryness, siccity, aridity, drought, ebb tide, low water, exsiccation, desiccation, arefaction, dephlegmation, drainage, drier, desiccative, dessicator, dessicator, hair drier, clothes drier, gas drier, electric drier, vacuum oven, drying oven, kiln, lyophilizer, clothesline, dry, anhydrous, arid, adust, arescent, dried, undamped, juiceless, sapless, sear, husky, rainless, without rain, fine, dry as a bone, dry as dust, dry as a stick, dry as a mummy, dry as a biscuit, water proof, water tight, dehydrated, dessicated.