dry up
Britishverb
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(intr) to become barren or unproductive; fail
in middle age his inspiration dried up
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to dry (dishes, cutlery, etc) with a tea towel after they have been washed
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informal (intr) to stop talking or speaking
when I got on the stage I just dried up
dry up!
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Gradually become unproductive, as in After two collections of short stories, his ability to write fiction dried up . Also see well's run dry .
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Stop talking; also, cause to stop talking. For example, Dry up! You've said enough . [ Slang ; mid-1800s]
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.
Some said they couldn't find work, while others saw their income dry up after the authorities restricted the internet when the war started, suffocating industries and workers that relied on connecting to the global web.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
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 • Mar. 23, 2026
In the Championship, they would earn only a fraction of that as certain revenue streams dry up and others are squeezed by relegation clauses.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026
Locals were detained and quickly released as investigative leads appeared to dry up.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026
“There’s nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake.”
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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.
