dry up

British  

verb

1. (intr) to become barren or unproductive; fail

   in middle age his inspiration dried up

2. to dry (dishes, cutlery, etc) with a tea towel after they have been washed

3. informal (intr) to stop talking or speaking

   when I got on the stage I just dried up

   dry up!

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dry up Idioms  

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]

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Example Sentences

Pakistani officials warned that LNG imports will dry up by mid-April.

From The Wall Street Journal

More than eight million Venezuelans fled over the last 12 years, including many criminals whose profits from robberies, kidnappings and extortion had dried up, security analysts said.

From The Wall Street Journal

The pub and deli owner claimed there had been a "war against tourism" and work for tradespeople was "slowly starting to dry up" as second home owners "haven't got the money to spend".

From BBC

Inflows to private funds could dry up in coming months as wealth managers balk at committing client cash to them, given negative headlines about private credit and the ability to buy similar cheaper public funds.

From Barron's

She has watched the rest of her animals die as the pasture has dried up due to a prolonged drought in her part of north-western Kenya.

From BBC

Related Words

• abate
• curb
• curtail
• cut down
• decline
• depreciate
• deteriorate
• diminish
• drop
• drop off
• dwindle
• ease
• ebb
• fall off
• lessen
• lower
• reduce
• shrink
• sink
• slacken