dry
Forms
- Comparative
- drier
- Superlative
- driest
- Plural
- drys
Definitions
1.Free from or lacking moisture.
- Not a dry eye was to be seen in the assembly.
- This towel's dry. Could you wet it and cover the chicken so it doesn't go dry as it cooks?
- The weather, […] we […] both agreed, was too dry for the season.
2.Unable to produce a liquid, as water, (petrochemistry) oil, or (agriculture) milk.
- This well is as dry as that cow.
3.Built without or lacking mortar.
- A side effect of the eye surgery is dry eyes.
- Before you put the knife away, please wipe it dry so that it will not rust.
4.Anhydrous: free from or lacking water in any state, regardless of the presence of other liquids.
- Dry alcohol is 200 proof.
1.The process by which something is dried.
- This towel is still damp: I think it needs another dry.
2.A prohibitionist (of alcoholic beverages).
- The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half.
3.An area with little or no rain, or sheltered from it.
- Come under my umbrella and keep in the dry.
4.The dry season.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1926
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
Etymology
Adjective and noun from Middle English drye, dryge, drüȝe, from Old English drȳġe (“dry; parched, withered”), from Proto-West Germanic *drūgī, *draugī, from Proto-Germanic *drūgiz, *draugiz (“dry, hard”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerǵʰ- (“to strengthen; become hard”), from *dʰer- (“to hold, support”). The verb derives from Middle English drien, from Old English drȳġan (“to dry”), from Proto-West Germanic *drūgijan, from Proto-Germanic *drūgiz (“hard, desiccated, dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerǵʰ- (“strong, hard, solid”). cognates and related terms