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RELATED WORDS

stifle, suppress, censor, choke, repress, restrain, muffle, squelch, sear, evaporate, scorch, exhaust, finish, depart, tire, expire, lose, go, waste, weaken

Nearby words

druse, drusilla, drusus, druthers, druze, dry, dry abscess, dry adiabatic lapse rate, dry as dust, dry battery, dry beer

Idioms

    not dry behind the ears, immature; unsophisticated: Adult responsibilities were forced on him, although he was still not dry behind the ears.

Origin of dry

before 900; Middle English drie, Old English drȳge; akin to Dutch droog, German trocken; see drought
Related forms

Synonym study

1. Dry, arid both mean without moisture. Dry is the general word indicating absence of water or freedom from moisture: a dry well; dry clothes. Arid suggests great or intense dryness in a region or climate, especially such as results in bareness or in barrenness: arid tracts of desert. 28. See evaporate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for dry up (1 of 2)

dry up

verb (adverb)

(intr) to become barren or unproductive; failin middle age his inspiration dried up
to dry (dishes, cutlery, etc) with a tea towel after they have been washed
(intr) informal to stop talking or speakingwhen I got on the stage I just dried up; dry up!

British Dictionary definitions for dry up (2 of 2)

dry

/ (draɪ) /

adjective drier, driest, dryer or dryest

verb dries, drying or dried

(when intr, often foll by off) to make or become dry or free from moisture
(tr) to preserve (meat, vegetables, fruit, etc) by removing the moisture

noun plural drys or dries

See also dry out, dry up
Derived Formsdryable, adjectivedryness, noun

Word Origin for dry

Old English drӯge; related to Old High German truckan, Old Norse draugr dry wood
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

Idioms and Phrases with dry up (1 of 2)

dry up

1

Gradually become unproductive, as in After two collections of short stories, his ability to write fiction dried up. Also see well's run dry.

2

Stop talking; also, cause to stop talking. For example, Dry up! You've said enough. [Slang; mid-1800s]

Idioms and Phrases with dry up (2 of 2)

dry

In addition to the idioms beginning with dry

  • dry as dust
  • dry behind the ears
  • dry out
  • dry run
  • dry up

also see:

  • cut and dried
  • hang out to dry
  • high and dry
  • keep one's powder dry
  • well's run dry
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.