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   dry

   /drʌɪ/

   adjective

   • 1. free from moisture or liquid; not wet or moist: "the jacket kept me warm and dry" Similar parcheddriedwitheredshrivelledwiltedwizenedcrispcrispybrittledehydrateddesiccatedsun-bakedsaplessjuicelessOpposite fresh
   • ▪ (of paint, ink, etc.) having lost all wetness or moisture over a period of time: "wait until the paint is dry"
   • ▪ for use without liquid: "the conversion of dry latrines into the flushing type"
   • ▪ with little or no rainfall or humidity: "the West Coast has had two dry winters in a row" Similar aridparchedscorchedbakedburneddried up/outtorridhotsizzlingburningwaterlessmoisturelessrainlessdehydrateddesiccatedthirstyas dry as a bonebone dryas dry as dustrare:droughtytorrefiedOpposite wet
   • ▪ (of a river, lake, or stream) empty of water as a result of lack of rainfall: "the river is always dry at this time of year" Similar waterlessdried outempty
   • ▪ (of a source) not yielding a supply of water or oil: "a dry well"
   • ▪ thirsty or thirst-making: "working in the hot sun is making me dry" Similar thirstydehydratedlonging for a drinkinformal:parchedgaspingthirst-makingthirst-provokingthirstyhotstrenuousarduousheavytiringexhausting
   • ▪ (of a cow or other domestic animal) no longer producing milk: "the rye has been strip-grazed by dry cows"
   • ▪ without grease or other moisturizer or lubricator: "cream conditioners for dry hair"
   • ▪ (of bread or toast) without butter or other spreads: "only dry bread and water" Similar unbutteredplainbutterless
   • ▪ (of noodles) not served in a soup, but in a sauce or with dry ingredients: SE Asian "customers can choose to have their noodles in the soup or opt for a dry version"
   • 2. (of information, writing, etc.) dealing primarily with facts and presented in a dull, uninteresting way: "he not only avoids dry accounts of regimes and rulers, but enables the reader to feel how the substance of daily life has changed" Similar baresimplebasicfundamentalstarknakedbaldcoldhardstraightforwardunadornedunembellisheddulluninterestingboringunexcitingtedioustiresomewearisomedrearymonotonousdry as dustaridunimaginativesterileflatblandinsipidlacklustrestodgycolourlesslifelessprosaicrun-of-the-millhumdrummundanecommonplaceworkadayquotidianroutinevapidstiffleadenwoodeninformal:deadlysameydreichOpposite embellishedinterestinglively
   • ▪ unemotional, undemonstrative, or impassive: "it transformed him from a dry administrator into the people's hero" Similar unemotionalindifferentundemonstrativeimpassivecoolcoldclinicalpassionlessemotionlessaloofreservedremotedistantrestrainedimpersonalformalstiffrigidwoodenstarchyOpposite emotionalexpressive
   • 3. (of a joke or sense of humour) subtle and expressed in a matter-of-fact way: "he delighted his friends with a dry, covert sense of humour" Similar wrysubtlelow-keylaconicslysharpdeadpanstraight-facedpoker-facedironicsardonicsarcasticcynicalmordantbitingsatiricalmockingscoffingdrollwaggishinformal:sarky
   • 4. prohibiting the sale or consumption of alcoholic drink: "the country is strictly dry, in accordance with Islamic law" Similar Prohibitionistteetotalalcohol-freenon-drinkingabstinentcleansoberinformal:on the wagonstraight
   • ▪ (of a person) no longer addicted to or drinking alcohol: "I heard much talk about how sobriety was more than staying straight or dry"
   • 5. (of an alcoholic drink) not sweet: "a dry, medium-bodied red wine" Similar crispsharppiquantnot sweettartbitterOpposite sweet
   • 6. relating to political ‘dries’; rigidly monetarist. British Similar monetaristarch-conservativeright-wingreactionarysupply-sideinformal:true-blueOpposite wetleft-wing

   verb

   • 1. become dry: "allow 24 hours for the paint to dry"
   • ▪ cause to become dry: "they had washed and dried their hair" Similar make drydry out/upparchscorchsearbakedehydratedesiccatedehumidifydry offtoweltowel-dryrubmop upblot upsoak upabsorbsop upclean updrainOpposite moisten
   • ▪ wipe tears from (the eyes): "she dried her eyes and blew her nose" Similar wipewipe tears fromrubdab
   • ▪ preserve by allowing or encouraging evaporation of moisture from: "I use several methods to dry the flowers and foliage I use in my arrangements" Similar dry updehydratedesiccatewithershrivelwiltwizenmummifydesiccatedehydrateremove the moisture frompreservecuresmokeOpposite moisten
   • 2. forget one's lines: theatrical slang "a colleague of mine once dried in the middle of a scene"

   noun

   • 1. the process or an instance of drying.
   • 2. a dry or covered place.
   • ▪ the dry season: Australian "the grass was yellowing and the dry had started"
   • ▪ a tract of waterless country: Australian "the forty-mile dry"
   • 3. a Conservative politician (especially in the 1980s) in favour of strict monetarist policies. British
   • 4. a person in favour of the prohibition of alcohol: US "evangelical dries had seen to it that the nearest bottle of whiskey was miles away"

   Word Origin Old Englishdrȳge (adjective), drȳgan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Middle Low German dröge, Dutch droog, and German trocken.

   Derivatives

   • 1. dryish adjective

   Scrabble Points: 7

   • D

     2

   • R

     1

   • Y

     4

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