dry
Adjectivedrier, dryer, driest, dryest
Formsdrier, dryer, driest, dryest
- 1Free from moisture or water; not wet or damp, including (in chemistry) containing no water at all.
After a week of sun, the riverbed was completely dry.
Store the seeds somewhere dry to keep them from molding.
UsageCompare as drier, driest; dryer also occurs but most often names the machine.
Similarparched
Oppositewet, damp, moist, humid
Note
One fixed phrase turns on it. When not a dry eye is to be seen, as in William H. Prescott's History of the Reign of Philip the Second, everyone present is in tears.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- William H. Prescott uses the expression about there being no dry eye in History of the Reign of Philip the Second. gutenberg.org
- 2To remove moisture from something, or to lose moisture and become dry.
Use a soft cloth to dry the lens carefully.
The machine dries wet grain before it goes into storage.
UsageWorks both ways: you dry the dishes, the paint dries. Dry your eyes means stop crying.
Oppositewet, moisten, dampen, soak
Note
One everyday use is emotional. To dry your eyes is to stop crying, the reverse of a room where there is not a dry eye.
- 3Of a place, period, climate, or spell of weather, getting scarcely any rain or none at all.
The region's dry climate makes it ideal for growing grapes without much risk of rot.
Forecasters expect the driest spring in decades, with almost no rain until June.
UsageCommon in a dry spell, a dry summer. Arid is stronger and more technical.
- 4Carried out without the water, oil, or other liquid a process normally uses, as in roasting, shaving, or machining.
The factory switched to dry machining to cut out the cost and mess of coolant.
Dry roasting the cumin seeds without any oil brings out a deeper, nuttier flavor.
Oppositewet
- 5Low in sugar and not sweet, as a wine or other beverage.
The sommelier recommended a crisp, dry white.
A dry champagne pairs well with salty appetizers.
Oppositesweet
Note
The drinks trade's word, where dry is the opposite of sweet, not of wet. A dry vermouth, a London dry gin and a dry white all have little sugar, and a dry martini is built from the first two. Ordering a martini dry now means asking for very little vermouth, and extra dry for even less or none. Never Say Never Again (1983) plays on the double meaning. Told he has been made all wet, James Bond replies that his martini is still dry.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 8 facts
- Dry vermouth contains relatively little sugar. en.wikipedia.org
- London dry gin contains very little sugar. en.wikipedia.org
- Dry white wine has little residual sugar. oiv.int
- A dry martini combines gin and dry vermouth. iba-world.com
- Ordering a martini dry requests a small proportion of vermouth. greygoose.com
- Ordering a martini extra dry requests even less vermouth or none. en.wikipedia.org
- Never Say Never Again was released in 1983. en.wikipedia.org
- James Bond answers Fatima Blush's remark about making him wet by saying his martini is still dry. en.wiktionary.org
- 6Plain and without decoration or liveliness, and so dull or uninteresting.
The textbook's dry prose made the subject feel lifeless.
Her presentation was dry, with no spark to hold anyone's attention.
UsageSaid of lectures, textbooks and histories, often with dull: dull and dry.
Similardull, boring, tedious, uninteresting, lifeless
Oppositelively, interesting, engaging, exciting
Note
Here the pleasure has drained out of something. Looking back on his schooling, Winston Churchill recalls schoolbooks served up in "the dullest, driest" forms. Context separates it from the dry-wit sense: a dry joke amuses, but a dry lecture does not.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Winston Churchill recalls school history books using the exact words "the dullest, driest". fadedpage.com
- 7The process of removing moisture from something.
After washing the car, she gave it a thorough dry with a soft towel to avoid streaks.
The clothes needed a long dry on the line after the storm.
UsageTakes a or another, often after need or give: give it a good dry.
- 8To exhaust something; to use it up until it runs dry.
The long lawsuit dried up the firm's cash reserves within two years.
Unchecked withdrawals could dry up the fund before the year is out.
UsageOften dry up: the lawsuit dried up the cash. What is used up runs dry.
Similardrain, exhaust, deplete
Oppositereplenish
Note
The figure is a well emptied by use: money, funds or resources drawn down until nothing is left.
- 9The part of the year with little or no rainfall, especially in tropical regions.
Farmers store water during the wet so they have enough through the dry.
We crossed the outback in the dry, when the back roads were finally passable.
UsageOften capitalized: the Dry, set against the Wet.
Oppositewet
Note
Xavier Herbert's Capricornia (1938) has a sodden figure praying for "the good old Dry," and Alexis Wright's Carpentaria (2006) writes of a mud hole "at the end of the Dry."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Xavier Herbert wrote Capricornia, first published in 1938. en.wikipedia.org
- Capricornia describes being sodden and praying for "the good old Dry"; this is narration, not a quotation attributed to Herbert as speaker. archive.org
- Alexis Wright wrote Carpentaria, first published in 2006. giramondopublishing.com
- Carpentaria contains the quoted wording about a mud hole. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 10Amusing in an understated way, delivered without any show of amusement.
His dry wit landed best when his expression stayed flat.
She delivered the punchline in a dry tone that made it funnier.
UsageCommon in dry wit, a dry sense of humor, a dry remark.
Similardeadpan, wry, droll, laconic, ironic
Note
Humor that keeps a straight face. It sits right next to deadpan, and the two are easy to confuse. Deadpan emphasizes the delivery, the blank face and flat voice, while dry can describe both the wit and its delivery.
- 11Without alcohol: of a person, no longer drinking it; of an event, not serving it; or of an area, where selling it is banned by law.
Several dry counties still prohibit liquor sales entirely.
The county remained dry for decades after Prohibition ended.
Oppositewet
Note
Law turns the household sense into a map. A dry county or town forbids the sale of drink. The ban may cover all alcohol or only the strong kinds, so dry does not always mean that nothing can be bought. The law targets selling, which is why residents drive out of the county to buy. The campaigners for such bans were the drys.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Dry counties and towns prohibit alcoholic beverage sales. en.wikipedia.org
- A dry designation can prohibit all alcohol sales or restrict stronger beverages while allowing beer. en.wikipedia.org
- Local sales bans lead residents to travel outside their jurisdictions to buy alcohol. en.wikipedia.org
- Supporters of alcohol prohibition were called drys. history.house.gov
- 12Unable to produce a liquid such as water, oil, or milk.
After years of pumping, the well finally ran dry.
Drillers abandoned the dry hole after finding no oil.
UsageOften after run or go: the well ran dry.
Similarunproductive, empty, exhausted, depleted
Oppositeproductive
Note
Three trades share one word for a source that gives nothing, or too little to use. Well-diggers, oil drillers and dairy farmers all call it dry: a well with no water, a bore with no oil worth pumping, a cow with no milk. What it measures is yield, not dampness.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- A dry hole cannot produce oil or gas in commercial quantities; it may nevertheless contain and yield oil. osha.gov
- 13Of a person or business, going through a period without work, income, or activity.
The freelancer had been dry for weeks, with no new contracts coming in.
After the factory closed, the town's restaurants went through a long dry spell, with half-empty tables most nights.
UsageOften a dry spell, or things are dry right now.
Similarslow, quiet, idle, slack
Note
A spell without work or trade, said of people and of business alike: things are dry right now. Its opposite is busy: a dry month is one with no orders and no calls.
- 14Lacking something that is usually added or involved, as toast without butter, or a run-through done only for practice.
Still feeling queasy, he managed only a few bites of dry toast and some weak tea.
The night before the wedding, we held a dry run of the ceremony, with no guests and no music, just to practice where everyone would stand.
- 15A pale, less sweet ginger ale, also called dry ginger ale, especially used as a mixer.
The bartender topped the spirit with a generous splash of dry.
She prefers her whisky with dry rather than soda.
UsageFollows the spirit: whisky dry, Scotch and dry.
Note
The Bee Gees used the pairing in "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry" (1968), and canned mixed drinks print it on the label. The name stretches the unsweetened sense: the ginger ale is less sweet than the ordinary kind, not sugar-free.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The Bee Gees recorded a song titled "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry". beegees.com
- The song was first released in 1968, on Idea. en.wikipedia.org
- Canned mixed drinks use "dry" in their product labelling. coles.com.au
- The name "dry" refers to reduced sweetness, extending the sense used for unsweetened drinks. en.wikipedia.org
- Dry ginger ale need not be sugar-free. drinkgus.com
- 16Of recorded sound, left without added effects, especially reverb.
The producer preferred a dry mix so each instrument stayed clear.
A dry vocal take leaves room to apply reverb in post-production.
Oppositewet
- 17Of a wall or structure: built by fitting stones together without mortar.
Masons rebuilt the dry wall stone by stone, using no mortar at all.
The shepherds' huts were built of dry masonry, each stone chosen to lock tightly against its neighbors without any mortar.
UsageStones are laid dry; walls are built dry. Before a noun: a dry-stone wall.
Note
A mason's use, where the missing ingredient is mortar rather than water. Tolkien uses it this way in 1937, describing a gate blocked by squared stones laid dry.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Dry stone masonry uses no mortar and relies on interlocking stones. en.wikipedia.org
- The Tolkien work containing the example was first published in 1937. tolkienestate.com
- Tolkien describes a gate blocked by squared stones laid dry. en.wiktionary.org
- 18A person who supports the legal prohibition of alcoholic drinks.
The local dry campaigned tirelessly to shut down every saloon in the district.
In the 1920s, drys and wets clashed over the future of Prohibition.
UsagePlural drys, often paired with wets: drys and wets.
Similarprohibitionist
Oppositewet
Note
American politics named its two camps over alcohol the drys and the wets, and the words usually travel together. Noah S. Sweat's line is typical: the drys were as unhappy with one half of a speech as the wets were with the other.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- American political opponents over alcohol prohibition were called wets and drys. hoover.blogs.archives.gov
- Noah S. Sweat recalled that the two camps disliked different halves of his speech. en.wikipedia.org
- 19To forget one's lines while performing on stage.
Like a musician whose mind goes blank in the middle of a familiar piece.
She dried halfway through the second act and stood frozen.
Even seasoned actors dry under the glare of opening night.
Note
Theater keeps two words for trouble with lines. An actor who stumbles over them fluffs; one who forgets them dries. Richard Collier draws exactly that line in Make-believe (1986). The verb is intransitive (he dried), and the lapse can be total. John Phipps, in FT Weekend (2024), writes that Derek Jacobi dried so completely it was as if he had never known the words.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Richard Collier distinguishes stumbling over lines from forgetting dialogue in Make-believe. en.wiktionary.org
- John Phipps's cited piece appeared in FT Weekend in 2024. en.wiktionary.org
- Phipps describes Derek Jacobi forgetting his lines completely, as though he had never known them. en.wiktionary.org
- 20Of a venomous animal's bite: delivering no venom into the wound.
Like a gun fired with blanks: the threat is real, but nothing harmful comes out.
The snake gave him a dry bite, so he needed no antivenom.
Many defensive snake strikes are dry, injecting no venom at all.
UsageMostly in the phrase dry bite.
Note
The bite itself is real; what is missing is the venom, often because the animal holds its supply back for prey. That makes it a clear case of dry marking an absent usual element, the same logic that gives a dry run.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- A dry bite is an actual bite in which no venom is delivered. en.wikipedia.org
- Animals often deliver dry bites defensively, preserving venom for prey. lazoo.org
- 21Of scientific work: based on computation and modeling rather than hands-on biological or chemical experiments.
He runs the dry side of the lab, modeling proteins on the computer.
Their research is mostly dry, relying on simulations rather than physical samples.
UsagePaired with wet: dry lab and wet lab.
Similarcomputational
Oppositewet
- 22Of an artwork or style: precisely executed but lacking soft contours or gentle transitions of color.
Critics found his early portraits dry, all hard edges and flat color.
Her dry manner favored crisp outlines over blended shading.
Note
A critic's word for technique that is exact but hard. Outlines are crisp, colors meet without melting into one another, and forms are not softly modeled. It names a manner of handling, not a subject. It also carries a note of lack: the precision is acknowledged, but the softness is missed.
- 23Of a noodle or similar dish: served tossed with sauce rather than in broth.
She ordered the noodles dry, tossed in a spicy chili sauce.
I prefer my wontons dry rather than floating in broth.
UsageOrdered as a choice: noodles dry or in soup.
Note
In Malaysian and Singaporean English this is how noodles are ordered: dry, tossed with sauce, or in soup. A diner quoted in The Straits Times in 2006 describes having mee tai mak "either in soup or dry."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The Straits Times published the quoted diner's remarks in 2006; Wiktionary identifies the speaker as Wong Hon Mun and the date as 30 July 2006. en.wiktionary.org
- The quoted description of eating mee tai mak includes the exact words "either in soup or dry." en.wiktionary.org
- 24An area receiving little or no rain, or one sheltered from it.
Cattle gathered in the dry beneath the rocky overhang.
The farmer hurried to get the hay bales into the dry before the thunderstorm arrived.
UsageWith the after a preposition: in the dry, into the dry.
Note
It can mean shelter from rain right where you stand, or country where rain rarely falls. The surrounding words decide which.
- 25Thirsty; eager or keen for something.
By the end of the hike we were so dry that the first sip of water tasted better than anything.
He came in from mowing the lawn in the August heat and said, "I'm so dry. Is there any cold lemonade left?"
Note
Here thirst becomes a figure for wanting. Shakespeare uses it in The Tempest, where Prospero says his brother was "so dry he was for sway" that he bowed Milan to Naples to gain power. The image stays physical: a craving for power pictured as a parched throat.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The Tempest is by William Shakespeare. gutenberg.org
- Prospero speaks the quoted words about his brother. gutenberg.org
- The quotation's exact wording is 'So dry he was for sway'. gutenberg.org
- Prospero describes his brother subordinating Milan to Naples to obtain power. gutenberg.org
- 26Of a cough: bringing nothing up, so that no phlegm or mucus comes from the lungs or throat.
The nurse asked whether the cough was dry or whether he was bringing up mucus.
A hacking dry cough kept her up for most of the night after the flight.
Similarnonproductive
Oppositeproductive, wet, chesty
- 27Of a Mass or religious service: conducted without consecration or the giving of communion.
- 28Of a jet engine or its thrust: operating without afterburners or water injection.
- 29In poker, of a flop or board: offering few chances to complete strong hands or draws.
- 30A hard-line member of the British Conservative Party, especially a backer of Margaret Thatcher's free-market policies in the 1980s.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
The adjective and noun come from Middle English drye, from Old English drȳġe ("dry, parched, withered"), tracing back through Proto-Germanic *drūgiz ("dry, hard") to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to strengthen, become hard." The verb comes from Old English drȳġan ("to dry") along the same Germanic line. It is related to Dutch droog, German trocken, and to English drought and drain.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 8 facts
- The adjective and noun descend from Middle English drye and Old English drȳġe, meaning dry, parched or withered. en.wiktionary.org
- The Germanic ancestor is reconstructed as *drūgiz, meaning dry or hard. en.wiktionary.org
- The word ultimately traces to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to strengthen or become hard. en.wiktionary.org
- The verb descends from Old English drȳġan, meaning to dry, and belongs to the same Germanic family. en.wiktionary.org
- Dry is related to Dutch droog. en.wiktionary.org
- Dry is related to German trocken through their reconstructed Indo-European root. en.wiktionary.org
- Dry is related to English drought. en.wiktionary.org
- Dry is related to English drain. en.wiktionary.org