dry-clean
Americanverb (used with object)
-
dry-cleans,
present (3rd person singular)
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dry-cleaned,
past participle, past
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dry-cleaning
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dry-cleansimple
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dry-cleanssimple
-
have dry-cleanedperfect
-
has dry-cleanedperfect
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am dry-cleaningprogressive
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are dry-cleaningprogressive
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is dry-cleaningprogressive
-
have been dry-cleaningperfect progressive
-
has been dry-cleaningperfect progressive
Past
-
dry-cleanedsimple
-
had dry-cleanedperfect
-
was dry-cleaningprogressive
-
were dry-cleaningprogressive
-
had been dry-cleaningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dry-clean
First recorded in 1810–20; back formation from dry cleaning
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:
If it merely says to dry-clean, consider that a recommendation, and know that you might be able to do it yourself.
From Washington Post ● May 17, 2022
It is made of polyester and viscose and, unlike its inspiration, is dry-clean only.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2018
"It costs a lot to dry-clean a suit over there in Japan, and the prime minister had an expensive one."
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2017
She teaches the boys about social interaction; they animatedly debate how Superman would dry-clean his costume.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 2, 2012
She had bought a short white dress at a Goodwill thrift shop and paid twelve dollars to dry-clean it.
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
People are often exposed to the chemical through the air when it slowly evaporates from recently dry-cleaned clothes.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2025
Butts refused to return the clothes until he reimbursed her for the cost of having them dry-cleaned, Daniels testified.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2023
I wish more businesses encouraged their staff to ask customers before adding, say, plastic utensils to a food order or a plastic sleeve over dry-cleaned items.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2023
"I've never seen anything so thoroughly dry-cleaned of evidence or information as these young teenagers managed to do themselves," said Mr Akunjee, a criminal lawyer with 20 years' experience.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2023
Farmer asked a fellow freshman, who was unpacking his dry-cleaned clothes, “How come you put your shirts in plastic?”
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Anna Torv was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1944 to a Scottish mother and an Estonian father who operated a dry-cleaning business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
Interestingly, higher-income individuals appeared more likely to have detectable PCE in their blood, possibly due to greater use of dry-cleaning services.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2025
Hersh grew up on Chicago’s South Side, the son of Jewish immigrants who ran a dry-cleaning shop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025
And you think your dry-cleaning bills are bad!
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2025
Its walls were lined with racks of suits and shirts, and it smelled to me like dry-cleaning fluid.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
