blow-dry
Americanverb (used with object)
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blow-dries,
present (3rd person singular)
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blow-dried,
past participle, past
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blow-drying
present participle
noun
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blow-drys,
plural
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blow-dries
plural
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
blow-drysimple
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blow-driessimple
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have blow-driedperfect
-
has blow-driedperfect
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am blow-dryingprogressive
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are blow-dryingprogressive
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is blow-dryingprogressive
-
have been blow-dryingperfect progressive
-
has been blow-dryingperfect progressive
Past
-
blow-driedsimple
-
had blow-driedperfect
-
was blow-dryingprogressive
-
were blow-dryingprogressive
-
had been blow-dryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blow-dry
First recorded in 1965–70; back formation from blow-dryer
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.
See Examples For:
Social media has spurred an increase in retailers dedicated to making Americans look good in photos, from blow-dry hair salons to waxing chains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
On her return to the daytime TV show, Garraway joked that she was "looking forward to a blow-dry".
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2024
When she came to visit, I would help blow-dry her curly hair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2022
Moving up the complexity scale are clear films that you apply indoors to the framing around a window with double-stick tape, then blow-dry to shrink it and make it taut.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2022
“Hon, let me give you some advice. Don’t blow-dry your hair. Let it dry wet. Also I’ve got a conditioner for you you won’t believe. I’m an authorized dealer.”
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
She said that she blow-dries her hair on medium heat using a Dyson Airwrap attachment, flat irons it and uses “an old-school pressing comb” to straighten her curly hair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
That’s a lot of what hairstylist Kayla Gowell hears as she snips, sprays, primps and blow-dries.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
Traditional services including cuts, blow-dries and colour treatments will also be available.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2021
It’s very long and very ’70s, with some real big blow-dries going on and huge crests and things.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2018
Under these exhortations, Kayla goes through her morning routine: following a YouTube “everyday makeup tutorial,” she spackles her skin with concealer, lines her eyes, and blow-dries her hair.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 1, 2018
Roughly 35 people attended the Monday event at Extended Beauty Bar, where Hobdy and her team of stylists did an array of services, including wash and blow-drys, haircuts and trims, silk presses and hair extensions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2025
How wonderful to be blessed to get my hair done,’” said Martin, 60, who got her hair washed and blow-dried, dyed black and braided down in a protective style so she can wear wigs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2025
These ethereal insulating kits, comprised of double-sided tape and plastic film, become nearly invisible when blow-dried.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
Granted, this is not the regular political fare voters are accustomed to hearing from cautious, poll-tested, blow-dried politicians.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
Lynn Fitch looked how she almost always does during public appearances: dyed-blonde hair blow-dried straight and neat, tasteful jewellery and a monochrome suit, this time in powder blue.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2022
Reality ripples between them as if it’s being actively blow-dried.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
We first hear the song as Tony is getting ready to go out, blow-drying his hair, trying on various gold chains and meticulously buttoning his best dress shirt.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2022
That she gets credit for not blow-drying her naturally curly hair and is lauded as not “typical D.C. political offspring” for adopting a Bushwick aesthetic feels slightly absurd.
From Slate ● Jan. 29, 2021
But around two years ago, she was getting ready for work by blow-drying her hair when she noticed smoke and the smell of burning.
From The Verge ● Jan. 28, 2020
The salon was hidden behind drywall, rather than visible through glass, and its ever-important blow-drying station was too narrow.
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2016
In any event, this was not a moment of high glamour for me, not a time I could really imagine blow-drying my hair and putting on a business suit.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
