drying

[ drahy-ing ]

adjective
  1. causing dryness: a drying breeze.

  2. designed to become or capable of becoming dry and hard on exposure to air.

Origin of drying

1
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at dry, -ing2

Other words from drying

  • non·dry·ing, adjective
  • un·dry·ing, adjective

Words Nearby drying

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use drying in a sentence

  • This will often save the foliage from drying up, a happening which makes the plants rather unsightly.

    How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard Bastin
  • The case should at such times be opened for a few hours each day to admit the drying air.

    How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard Bastin
  • In any case, fresh pieces of drying paper must now be used, and on to these the fronds are placed.

    How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard Bastin
  • After that their track turned straight west again, and it was hard to follow, for the ground was drying fast.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • The flue from the engine is carried through the drying room and dries his leather.

British Dictionary definitions for drying

drying

/ (ˈdraɪɪŋ) /


noun
  1. the action or process of making or becoming dry

  2. Also called (not now in technical usage): seasoning the processing of timber until it has a moisture content suitable for the purposes for which it is to be used

adjective
  1. causing dryness: a drying wind

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012