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Showing results for dry run. Search instead for MRT runs.
Synonyms

dry run

American  

noun

  1. a rehearsal or practice exercise.

  2. Military. practice in firing arms without using live ammunition.

dry run British  

noun

  1. military practice in weapon firing, a drill, or a manoeuvre without using live ammunition

  2. informal a trial or practice, esp in simulated conditions; rehearsal

"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
dry run Idioms  

  1. A trial exercise or rehearsal, as in Regard this as a dry run for tonight's ceremony. This term, using dry in the sense of “unproductive,” was at first employed mainly in the military for simulated bombings in which no bombs were dropped. [c. 1940]

Other Word Forms

  • dry-run adjective

Etymology

Origin of dry run

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45

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.

The test involves a four-astronaut flyby of the moon as a dry run for a moon landing, perhaps in 2028.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026

The PGA Awards are often considered a dry run for the Oscars’ best picture race since the guild shares significant member overlap with the academy and uses the same preferential ballot to pick its winner.

From New York Times • Feb. 26, 2024

Monday night’s NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinal seemed like the perfect dry run.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 4, 2023

And as Haaland ran to celebrate with his team-mates and fans after hammering his shot home to break the dry run, his expression was one of ecstasy, then relief.

From BBC • Oct. 21, 2023

Unlike on my Pathfinder trip, I have to take vital life support elements out of the Hab if I'm going to do a real dry run.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

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.