dry
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- dehydrated, arid, barren, desiccated, dried up, parched, thirsty
- dull, boring, dreary, monotonous, plain, tedious, tiresome, uninteresting
- sarcastic, deadpan, droll, low-key, sly
[verb]
Synonyms:
- dehydrate, dehumidify, desiccate, drain, make dry, parch, sear

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Antonyms: wet, sweet
Contrasted words: drenched, dripping, saturated, soaked, soaking, sodden, sopping, soppy, soused, wringing-wet, damp, dank, humid, moist, exuberant, lush, luxuriant, prodigal, profuse, deluge, douse, drench, soak, sop, souse, dampen, moisten
Related Words: baked, dehydrated, desiccated, parched, bald, bare, barren, depleted, drained, exhausted, impoverished, juiceless, sapless, sapped, evaporate, anhydrate, deplete, drain, exhaust, shrivel, wither, wizen

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English Thesaurus: boring, not very interesting, dull, tedious, monotonous, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. dry¹ S2 W2 /draɪ/ adjective (comparative drier, superlative driest)
[Language: Old English; Origin: dryge]

1. NOT WET without water or liquid inside or on the surface Antonym : wet:
I need to change into some dry clothes.
Make sure that the surface is clean and dry before you start to paint.
You should store disks in a cool, dry place.
shake/rub/wipe etc something dry
Jean rubbed her hair dry.
The path is dry as a bone (=very dry). ⇒ bone dry

2. WEATHER having very little rain or moisture Antonym : wet ⇒ arid:
The weather was hot and dry.
Eastern areas should stay dry tomorrow.
the dry season
These plants do not grow well in dry conditions (=when there is not much rain).
a prolonged dry spell (=period)

3. dry mouth/skin/lips/hair etc without enough of the liquid or oil that is normally in your mouth, skin etc ⇒ parched:
His heart was pounding and his mouth was dry.
Mary has dry, sensitive skin.
a shampoo for dry hair
She licked her dry lips.

4. run/go dry if a lake, river etc runs dry, all the water gradually disappears, especially because there has been no rain:
The river ran dry last summer.

5. HUMOUR someone with a dry sense of humour says funny and clever things while seeming to be serious:
He had a delightfully dry sense of humour.

6. BORING boring, very serious, and without humour:
In schools, science is often presented in a dry and uninteresting manner.
a dry debate on policies

7. dry cough a cough which does not produce any phlegm

8. dry wine/sherry etc wine etc that is not sweet:
a glass of dry white wine

9. WITHOUT ALCOHOL not drinking alcohol, or not allowing any alcohol to be sold:
Paula had been dry for a year before she started drinking again.
Kuwait’s a dry country.

10. VOICE showing no emotion when you speak:
‘Good evening gentlemen,’ he said, in a dry voice.

11. dry bread/toast bread etc eaten on its own without anything such as butter or jam spread on it

12. THIRSTY informal thirsty

13. not a dry eye in the house used to say that everyone was crying because something was very sad – often used humorously
—dryness noun [uncountable]
⇒ drip-dry, dry rot, ⇒ home and dry at home²(6), ⇒ leave somebody high and dry at high²(5), ⇒ dryly

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. dry² S2 W3 verb (past tense and past participle dried, present participle drying, third person singular dries) [intransitive and transitive]

1. to make something dry, or to become dry:
Mrs Brown hung the washing on the line to dry.
He was drying his hair with a towel.
Mary dried her hands.
Leave the first coat of paint to dry before adding another.
She stood up and dried her eyes (=wiped away her tears).
dry yourself
He quickly dried himself on the thin towel.

2. (also dry up British English) to rub plates, dishes etc dry with a cloth after they have been washed:
You wash and I’ll dry.
Shall I dry up these glasses?
⇒ cut and dried, dried
dry off phrasal verb
to become dry or to make something dry, especially on the surface:
We swam in the sea, then stretched out on the sand to dry off.
dry something ↔ off
He dried the camera off, hoping it would still work.
dry out phrasal verb

1. to become completely dry or to make something completely dry, especially after it has been very wet:
In summer, water the plants regularly and never let the soil dry out.
dry something ↔ out
The kitchen was flooded and it took ages to dry it out.

2. dry (somebody) out to stop drinking alcohol after you have become an alcoholic, or to make someone do this:
He’s been drying out at a private clinic.
The hospital dried Michael out and sent him home.
dry up phrasal verb

1. COME TO AN END if a supply of something dries up, it comes to an end and no more is available:
Foreign investment may dry up.
The work soon dried up.

2. RIVER/LAKE ETC if something such as a river dries up, the water in it disappears:
Across central and west Texas, waterholes and wells have dried up.
dry something ↔ up
Taking too much water for household use is drying up the river.

3. STOP TALKING if someone dries up, they stop talking:
‘It was -’ She dried up again.
Everyone became embarrassed and conversation dried up.

4. PLATES/DISHES ETC British English to rub plates, dishes etc dry with a cloth after they have been washed
dry something ↔ up
I’ll just dry up these mugs and we can have a coffee.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

dry
adj.
VERBS be, feel, look, seem | become, get, go, run Come into the warm and get dry, both of you. Ruth felt her mouth go dry. The wells in most villages in the region have run dry. (figurative) Vaccine supplies started to run dry as the flu outbreak reached epidemic proportions.
keep, remain, stay We managed to keep dry by huddling in a doorway. There is every prospect of the weather remaining dry this week.
pat sb/sth, rub sb/sth, towel sb Rinse the mushrooms and pat dry. He towelled himself dry.
bleed sb, milk sb, squeeze sb, suck sb (all figurative) The big corporations are bleeding some of these small countries dry (= taking all their money).
keep sth This type of wound is best kept dry without a dressing.
ADV. excessively, extremely, very | bone, completely, perfectly, quite, thoroughly, totally The river was bone dry. Make sure the paint is thoroughly dry.
almost, nearly | barely, hardly, scarcely (often figurative) The ink was scarcely dry on the ceasefire agreement before fighting broke out again.
mainly, mostly The day will start bright and mainly dry.
a bit, a little, rather, reasonably, relatively

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

dry
verb
ADV. carefully, completely, thoroughly Wait until the paint has completely dried. Always dry clothes thoroughly before you wear them again.
quickly | slowly | naturally | off, out We left the wood in the shed to dry out.
VERB + DRY allow sth to, leave sth to, let sth It's best to let your hair dry naturally.
PHRASAL VERBS dry up
I. become empty of water
ADV. completely It's been so hot this year that the pond has dried up completely.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

dry
II. be no longer available
ADV. completely Funds have completely dried up.
virtually

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

dry

dry grass
There had been no rain and the grass was very dry.
dry clothes
I had no dry clothes to change into.
dry land (=not the sea)
It was good to get off the ship onto dry land again.
dry ingredients (=the things in a recipe that are not liquid)
Add the eggs and milk to the dry ingredients.
keep dry
We managed to keep dry inside an old farm building.
get dry (=become dry)
Come inside and get dry.
shake/rub/wipe etc something dry
He wiped his hands dry with a handkerchief.
towel something dry (=use a towel to dry something)
Towel your hair dry before using a hairdryer.
dry as a bone/bone dry (=completely dry)
These plants need some water – they’re dry as a bone.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

boring not interesting in any way:
a boring speech
He found school incredibly boring.
not very interesting [not before noun] very ordinary and therefore rather boring. People often use this phrase in everyday English, instead of saying directly that something is boring:
The story wasn’t very interesting.
dull especially written boring:
The conference was usually a dull affair.
Life was never dull.
tedious /ˈtiːdiəs/ very boring and continuing for a long time:
The process was tedious and slow.
Jake began the tedious task of sorting through his papers.
monotonous /məˈnɒtənəs $ məˈnɑː-/ boring and always the same:
The work was monotonous and unchallenging.
He was only half listening to the monotonous voice of the teacher.
mundane /mʌnˈdeɪn/ rather boring, because it is connected with things you do regularly as part of your daily life:
He busied himself with the mundane task of cleaning the house.
Most arguments are over mundane issues like spending or saving money.
humdrum /ˈhʌmdrʌm/ [usually before noun] boring because nothing new or interesting ever happens:
He wanted to escape his humdrum life.
a humdrum existence
dry a subject, piece of writing etc that is dry is boring because it is very serious and does not contain any humour:
The students complained that the lecture was dry and uninspiring.
a dry academic volume

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

dry having very little moisture, or no longer wet:
How do plants survive in hot dry conditions?
My mouth feels dry.
The clothes should be dry.
The ground was bone dry (=completely dry).
parched completely dry – used about land, or about someone’s lips, throat, skin etc:
The earth was so parched that there were huge cracks in it.
parched lips
arid extremely dry because of lack or rain and therefore difficult for growing crops:
the arid landscape of the Danakil desert
an arid mountain region

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

sunny if the weather is sunny, the sun is shining:
When we arrived in Hong Kong, it was warm and sunny.
a lovely sunny afternoon
fine especially British English not raining, and with no clouds or only a few clouds in the sky:
a period of fine weather
Next week will be fine but a little cooler.
nice (also lovely especially British English) spoken pleasantly warm and sunny:
It’s a lovely day – why don’t we go for a walk?
If it’s nice, we’ll go to the beach.
bright if the weather is bright, the sun is shining and there is plenty of light:
a bright sunny morning
It was bright earlier on in the day.
beautiful/glorious used when the weather is very good and there is a lot of sunshine:
a glorious autumn day
The weather has been beautiful all week.
clear with no clouds or mist:
It was a clear June morning.
a clear blue sky
cloudless especially literary with no clouds:
The sun shone from a cloudless sky.
It was a beautiful cloudless morning.
dry with no rain:
a period of dry weather
Tomorrow will be mostly dry.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

dry
draɪ
See: cut and dried , high and dry

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲