dry powder

[drahy pou-der]

noun

1. cash reserves, liquid assets, or easily liquidated assets such as readily saleable stocks and bonds, held by a corporation or an individual in order to cover current or future obligations, make new purchases, or take advantage of unforeseen opportunities.

   Stick with small investments for now, but keep some dry powder on hand in case we start to see this industry grow stronger.

2. powder.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dry powder¹

First recorded in 2000–05 dry powder for def. 1

Example Sentences

Here’s the math that keeps me bullish: Global private-equity funds hold roughly $2.5 trillion in dry powder, much of which will require private-credit financing.

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When fund managers’ cash goes low enough, they can’t buy much more stock, and they sometimes have to sell some to raise more “dry powder.”

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You usually won’t get cold, dry powder under your skis, but you will find soft, forgiving and playful snow, which some skiers rank as equally rewarding to ski.

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Steinberg said his firm lately has been “trimming at the margin to have some dry powder,” because any earnings jolts could trigger a pullback in stocks.

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Total dry powder, which is unspent capital, stood at $188.1 billion in the latest quarter, with $73.7 billion for private equity, $57.1 billion for credit and insurance and $52.7 billion for real estate.

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