dry-clean
Americanverb (used with object)
-
dry-cleans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dry-cleaned,
past participle, past
-
dry-cleaning
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dry-cleansimple
-
dry-cleanssimple
-
have dry-cleanedperfect
-
has dry-cleanedperfect
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am dry-cleaningprogressive
-
are dry-cleaningprogressive
-
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:
Before you drop off your favorite duds, though, check whether you really need to dry-clean them.
From Washington Post ● May 17, 2022
Many doonas and covers are dry-clean only, so pay close attention to the manufacturer’s directions.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2020
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 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
Typically, Southgate had Noades' clothes dry-cleaned the next morning.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2024
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
She has in her arms a dry-cleaned white lab coat in a protective plastic film.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Six in 10 construction-equipment workers and nearly half of laundry and dry-cleaning workers said they used AI for at least one task on the job.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
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
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
All the money that Uhmma makes working at Gomo’s new dry-cleaning business, the money from Joon’s afterschool job at Kinko’s, and my money from tutoring.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
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.
