drying

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of dry.

   The fields were slowly drying after weeks of heavy rain.

   She kept drying her eyes throughout the sad film.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs. In the paint is drying it is a participle inside a progressive; in drying takes hours it is a gerund naming the activity, close kin to the noun for the act. It works with or without an object: the fields are drying, she is drying her eyes. On stage, an actor who is drying has forgotten their lines. Among programmers, drying code means stripping out repetition.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act or process of removing moisture from something.

   Slow drying produced a smoother finish on the varnished table.

   Proper drying prevents mold from forming on stored timber.

   Similardehydration, desiccation

   Oppositewetting, moistening

   Note

   Usually a mass noun, as in slow drying or proper drying. It also counts, with the plural dryings for separate rounds of the process, as in repeated washings and dryings. Its near-synonyms dehydration and desiccation sound more technical and suggest that the water is removed thoroughly. Drying is the everyday word and covers any degree of it.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   A method of preserving food by removing its water content to prevent spoilage.

   Drying concentrates the natural sugars in fruit while making it safe to store for months.

   Many cultures relied on drying to preserve fish and meat before refrigeration existed.

   Similardehydration, desiccation

Showing meanings only. Show all 3