dry-clean
Americanverb (used with object)
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dry-cleans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dry-cleaned,
past participle, past
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dry-cleaning
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dry-cleansimple
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dry-cleanssimple
-
have dry-cleanedperfect
-
has dry-cleanedperfect
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am dry-cleaningprogressive
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are dry-cleaningprogressive
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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:
Be sure to launder or dry-clean clothing that you’ve worn, because clothes moths are drawn to fibers with body oils or food spills.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2022
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 teaches the boys about social interaction; they animatedly debate how Superman would dry-clean his costume.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 2, 2012
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
And it’s like, well, because I had to have an assistant go get that piece from his closet, have it dry-cleaned, have it picked up, then have it delivered to set.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
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
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
His waxwork needed to be cleaned and repainted, while its jacket, shirt and bow tie had to be dry-cleaned.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2023
Farmer asked a fellow freshman, who was unpacking his dry-cleaned clothes, “How come you put your shirts in plastic?”
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
The Leon Capital Group founder talks about investments in unglamorous businesses, career-defining bets during the financial crisis, and why he still sometimes balks at his dry-cleaning bill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
Interestingly, higher-income individuals appeared more likely to have detectable PCE in their blood, possibly due to greater use of dry-cleaning services.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2025
And you think your dry-cleaning bills are bad!
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2025
Before we were interned, my father had a successful dry-cleaning business on Wilshire Boulevard, right by Bullocks Wilshire, the most fashionable department store in Los Angeles.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2024
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.
