DRY (dried, drier, driest, dryer, dryest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dry mean? 

• DRY (noun)
  The noun DRY has 1 sense:

1. a reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages

  Familiarity information: DRY used as a noun is very rare.

• DRY (adjective)
  The adjective DRY has 16 senses:

1. free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet

2. humorously sarcastic or mocking

3. lacking moisture or volatile components

4. opposed to or prohibiting the production and sale of alcoholic beverages

5. not producing milk

6. (of liquor) having a low residual sugar content because of decomposition of sugar during fermentation

7. without a mucous or watery discharge

8. not shedding tears

9. lacking interest or stimulation; dull and lifeless

10. used of solid substances in contrast with liquid ones

11. unproductive especially of the expected results

12. having no adornment or coloration

13. (of food) eaten without a spread or sauce or other garnish

14. having a large proportion of strong liquor

15. lacking warmth or emotional involvement

16. practicing complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages

  Familiarity information: DRY used as an adjective is very familiar.

• DRY (verb)
  The verb DRY has 2 senses:

1. remove the moisture from and make dry

2. become dry or drier

  Familiarity information: DRY used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DRY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dry; prohibitionist

Hypernyms ("dry" is a kind of...):

crusader; meliorist; reformer; reformist; social reformer (a disputant who advocates reform)

Instance hyponyms:

Carry Amelia Moore Nation; Carry Nation; Nation (United States prohibitionist who raided saloons and destroyed bottles of liquor with a hatchet (1846-1911))

Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard; Willard (United States advocate of temperance and women's suffrage (1839-1898))

• DRY (adjective)

Declension: comparative and superlative

Sense 1

Meaning:

Free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet

Context example:

the paint is dry

Similar:

arid; waterless (lacking sufficient water or rainfall)

thirsty (needing moisture)

semi-dry (somewhat dry)

semiarid (somewhat arid)

rainless (lacking rain)

kiln-dried (dried in a kiln)

dry-shod (having or keeping the feet or shoes dry)

dried-up; sear; sere; shriveled; shrivelled; withered ((used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture)

dried-up (depleted of water)

dried (not still wet)

desiccated; dried-out (thoroughly dried out)

bone-dry; bone dry (without a trace of moisture; as dry as a weathered bone)

air-dry (not giving off moisture on exposure to the air)

air-dried (made dry by contact with unheated air)

adust; baked; parched; scorched; sunbaked (dried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight)

Attribute:

wetness (the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Antonym:

wet (covered or soaked with a liquid such as water)

Derivation:

dryness (the condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Humorously sarcastic or mocking

Synonyms:

dry; ironic; ironical; wry

Context example:

with a wry Scottish wit

Similar:

humorous; humourous (full of or characterized by humor)

Derivation:

dryness (objectivity and detachment)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lacking moisture or volatile components

Context example:

dry paint

Antonym:

wet (containing moisture or volatile components)

Derivation:

dryness (the condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Opposed to or prohibiting the production and sale of alcoholic beverages

Context example:

a dry state

Antonym:

wet (supporting or permitting the legal production and sale of alcoholic beverages)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Not producing milk

Context example:

a dry cow

Similar:

milkless (having no milk)

Antonym:

wet (producing or secreting milk)

Derivation:

dryness (the condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Sense 6

Meaning:

(of liquor) having a low residual sugar content because of decomposition of sugar during fermentation

Context example:

a dry Bordeaux

Similar:

brut ((of champagne) extremely dry)

medium-dry (of a wine that is dry but not extremely dry)

sec; unsweet ((of champagne) moderately dry)

Also:

nonsweet; sugarless (not containing sugar)

sour (having a sharp biting taste)

Antonym:

sweet ((used of wines) having a high residual sugar content)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Without a mucous or watery discharge

Context example:

that rare thing in the wintertime; a small child with a dry nose

Antonym:

phlegmy (characterized by phlegm)

Derivation:

dryness (the condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Sense 8

Meaning:

Not shedding tears

Context example:

with dry eyes

Similar:

dry-eyed; tearless (free from tears)

Derivation:

dryness (the condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Sense 9

Meaning:

Lacking interest or stimulation; dull and lifeless

Synonyms:

dry; juiceless

Context example:

dull and juiceless as only book knowledge can be when it is unrelated to...life

Similar:

unexciting; unstimulating (not stimulating)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Used of solid substances in contrast with liquid ones

Context example:

dry weight

Similar:

solid (of definite shape and volume; firm; neither liquid nor gaseous)

Sense 11

Meaning:

Unproductive especially of the expected results

Context example:

a mind dry of new ideas

Similar:

unproductive (not producing or capable of producing)

Sense 12

Meaning:

Having no adornment or coloration

Context example:

rattled off the facts in a dry mechanical manner

Similar:

plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)

Sense 13

Meaning:

(of food) eaten without a spread or sauce or other garnish

Context example:

dry meat

Similar:

plain (not elaborate or elaborated; simple)

Sense 14

Meaning:

Having a large proportion of strong liquor

Context example:

a very dry martini is almost straight gin

Similar:

alcoholic (characteristic of or containing alcohol)

Sense 15

Meaning:

Lacking warmth or emotional involvement

Context example:

a dry critique

Similar:

unemotional (unsusceptible to or destitute of or showing no emotion)

Derivation:

dryness (objectivity and detachment)

Sense 16

Meaning:

Practicing complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages

Synonyms:

dry; teetotal

Context example:

no thank you; I happen to be teetotal

Similar:

sober (not affected by a chemical substance (especially alcohol))

Derivation:

dryness (moderation in or abstinence from alcohol or other drugs)

• DRY (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove the moisture from and make dry

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

dry; dry out

Context example:

dry hair

Hypernyms (to "dry" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Cause:

dry; dry out (become dry or drier)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dry"):

dehydrate; desiccate; dry up; exsiccate (lose water or moisture)

dehydrate; desiccate (remove water from)

spin-dry (dry (clothes) by spinning and making use of centrifugal forces)

tumble dry (dry by spinning with hot air inside a cylinder)

spray-dry (dry by bringing into the form of a spray, through contact with a hot gas)

dehumidify (make less humid)

parch; sear (cause to wither or parch from exposure to heat)

rough-dry (dry without smoothing or ironing)

blow-dry (dry hair with a hair dryer)

drip-dry (dry by hanging up wet)

air (expose to warm or heated air, so as to dry)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

wet (cause to become wet)

Derivation:

drier (a substance that promotes drying (e.g., calcium oxide absorbs water and is used to remove moisture))

drier (an appliance that removes moisture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become dry or drier

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

dry; dry out

Context example:

The laundry dries in the sun

Hypernyms (to "dry" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dry"):

scorch (become scorched or singed under intense heat or dry conditions)

dry out; run dry (become empty of water)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

drier (an appliance that removes moisture)

drier (a substance that promotes drying (e.g., calcium oxide absorbs water and is used to remove moisture))

 Context examples 

What he heard was no longer the philosophy of the dry, printed word, written by half-mythical demigods like Kant and Spencer.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When I had done, Glumdalclitch always carried back my boat into her closet, and hung it on a nail to dry.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

This part of the moor, as the Inspector remarked, is very hard and dry.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“One could hardly hope for any upon so dry a day. Your servant seems to have quite recovered. You left him in a chair, you say. Which chair?”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Yes," answered the child, looking up and drying her tears.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Hans told him what had happened, how he was dry, and wanted to milk his cow, but found the cow was dry too.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The tree then has hydraulic failure and cannot transport water from the roots to the leaves, causing it to dry out and die.

(What's killing trees during droughts?, National Science Foundation)

The Kuna make a drink with dried and ground cocoa beans (the seeds of the cocoa tree) along with a little added sweetener.

(Can Chocolate Really Be Good for You?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

He dried his wet foot-gear by the fire.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Our lips were dry and cracked, nor could we longer moisten them with our tongues.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)