dry up
Britishverb
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(intr) to become barren or unproductive; fail
in middle age his inspiration dried up
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to dry (dishes, cutlery, etc) with a tea towel after they have been washed
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informal (intr) to stop talking or speaking
when I got on the stage I just dried up
dry up!
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Gradually become unproductive, as in After two collections of short stories, his ability to write fiction dried up . Also see well's run dry .
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Stop talking; also, cause to stop talking. For example, Dry up! You've said enough . [ Slang ; mid-1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dry up thi peepies, pet, wipe thi wet face; Tears o' thy little cheeks seem aat 'o place.
From Yorkshire Ditties, Second Series To which is added The Cream of Wit and Humour from his Popular Writings by Hartley, John
Dry up on them corpse tunes o' yourn, Harvey Mace.
From Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays by Various
"Dry up, Mike!" returned Frank with a grin.
From The Enchanted Canyon by Morrow, Honoré
"Dry up your tears, good Uncle Sam; Dry up!" said Puritan, "We'll bring you home your stolen stars, Or perish every man!"
From Incidents of the War: Humorous, Pathetic, and Descriptive by Burnett, Alf
"Dry up, no chaff, you dealt," he said.
From The Second String by Gould, Nat
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
