# drying

Pronunciation: say "DRY-ing" /ˈdɹaɪ.ɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle of dry. — present participle and gerund of dry
   - Simple: Present participle of dry. Use this form when something is getting dry right now.
   - _The fields were slowly drying after weeks of heavy rain._
   - _She kept drying her eyes throughout the sad film._

## Noun

2. The act or process of removing moisture from something.
   - Simple: The act of making something dry or letting it lose its water.
   - _Slow drying produced a smoother finish on the varnished table._
   - _Proper drying prevents mold from forming on stored timber._
3. A method of preserving food by removing its water content to prevent spoilage.
   - Simple: A way to keep food from spoiling by taking the water out of it.
   - _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._

## Origin

Formed from "dry" combined with the suffix "-ing".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/drying (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).