dry
dry (drī) adjective
drier (drīʹər) or dryer, driest (drīʹĭst) or dryest
1. Free from liquid or moisture: changed to dry clothes.
2. Having or characterized by little or no rain: a dry climate.
3. Marked by the absence of natural or normal moisture: a dry month.
4. Not under water: dry land.
5. Having all the water or liquid drained away, evaporated, or exhausted: a dry river.
6. No longer yielding liquid, especially milk: a dry cow.
7. Lacking a mucous or watery discharge: a dry cough.
8. Not shedding tears: dry sobs.
9. Needing or desiring drink; thirsty: a dry mouth.
10. No longer wet: The paint is dry.
11. Of or relating to solid rather than liquid substances or commodities: dry weight.
12. Not sweet as a result of the decomposition of sugar during fermentation. Used of wines.
13. Having a large proportion of strong liquor to other ingredients: a dry martini.
14. Eaten or served without butter, gravy, or other garnish: dry toast; dry meat.
15. Having no adornment or coloration; plain: the dry facts.
16. Devoid of bias or personal concern: presented us with a dry critique.
17. a. Lacking tenderness, warmth, or involvement; severe: The actor gave a dry reading of the lines. b. Matter-of-fact or indifferent in manner: rattled off the facts in a dry mechanical tone.
18. Wearisome; dull: a dry lecture filled with trivial details.
19. Humorous or sarcastic in a shrewd, impersonal way: dry wit.
20. Prohibiting or opposed to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages: a dry county.
21. Unproductive of the expected results: a mind dry of new ideas.
22. Constructed without mortar or cement: dry masonry.
verb
dried (drīd), drying, dries (drīz)
verb, transitive
1. To remove the moisture from; make dry: laundry dried by the sun.
2. To preserve (meat or other foods, for example) by extracting the moisture.
verb, intransitive
To become dry: The sheets dried quickly in the sun.
noun
plural drys
Informal.
A prohibitionist.
phrasal verb.
dry out Informal
To undergo a cure for alcoholism. dry up
1. To make or become unproductive, especially to do so gradually.
2. Informal. To stop talking.
[Middle English drie, from Old English drge.]
dryʹly or driʹly adverb
dryʹness noun
Synonyms: dry, dehydrate, desiccate, parch. The central meaning shared by these verbs is "to remove the moisture from": drying the dishes; add water to dehydrated eggs; a factory where coconut meat is shredded and desiccated; land parched by the sun. See also synonyms at sour.
Antonyms: moisten.