bone-dry

American  

[bohn-drahy] / ˈboʊnˈdraɪ /

adjective

1. very dry.

2. very thirsty.

3. Slang. dry.

4. Ceramics. (of clay) thoroughly dried. dry.

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bone-dry British  

adjective

1. informal

   1. completely dry

      a bone-dry well

   2. ( postpositive )

      the well was bone dry

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Etymology

Origin of bone-dry

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

None of that happened in the Palisades, with its hilly terrain covered in bone-dry brush, even though the weather service had flagged it as one of the regions at “extreme risk.”

From Los Angeles Times

It’s dry but not bone-dry, a wine to please a wide range of palates.

From The Wall Street Journal

But a week later, powerful Santa Ana winds arrived, and coupled with single-digit humidity, they turned the landscape into bone-dry tinder ready to burn.

From Los Angeles Times

Broccoli growers are particularly struggling with a lack of water and bone-dry soils, with yields cut by more than 50%, quality affected and shoppers warned to expect smaller vegetables on the shelves.

From BBC

At least eight firefighters have been injured while battling the Orleans Complex and the Green fire in Northern California forests that are burning amid extreme heat in steep, bone-dry terrain.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• arid
• parched
• scorched
• sunbaked