| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| dry |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  dr |
| ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: dri·er ( dr  r) or dry·er, dri·est ( dr st) or dry·est
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 a dry critique. 17a. 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: | Inflected forms: dried ( drd), dry·ing, dries ( drz)
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 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. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To become dry: The sheets dried quickly in the sun. | | NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. drys
Informal A prohibitionist. | | PHRASAL VERBS: | 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. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English drie, from Old English dr ge. | | OTHER FORMS: | dryly, drily —ADVERB
dryness —NOUN
| | SYNONYMS: | dry, dehydrate, desiccate, parch These verbs mean to remove the moisture from: drying the dishes; added water to eggs that were dehydrated; a factory where coconut meat is shredded and desiccated; land parched by the sun. See also synonyms at sour. | | ANTONYM: | moisten
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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