Dry Word Meaning

Old English drȳge (adjective), drȳgan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Middle Low German dröge, Dutch droog, and German trocken

free from moisture or liquid; not wet or moist

free from moisture

• the jacket kept me warm and dry
• he wiped the table dry with his shirt

(of information, writing, etc.) dealing primarily with facts and presented in a dull, uninteresting way

dully factual

• he not only avoids dry accounts of regimes and rulers, but enables the reader to feel how the substance of daily life has changed
• the commentary is very dry, with little of interest to even the most avid fan

(of a joke or sense of humour) subtle and expressed in a matter-of-fact way

(of humour) subtle

• he delighted his friends with a dry, covert sense of humour

prohibiting the sale or consumption of alcoholic drink

prohibiting alcohol

• the country is strictly dry, in accordance with Islamic law

(of an alcoholic drink) not sweet

(of wine etc.) not sweet

• a dry, medium-bodied red wine

relating to political ‘dries’; rigidly monetarist.

relating to political dries

become dry

become dry

• allow 24 hours for the paint to dry

forget one's lines

forget lines

• a colleague of mine once dried in the middle of a scene

the process or an instance of drying.

process or instance of drying

a dry or covered place.

dry or covered place

a Conservative politician (especially in the 1980s) in favour of strict monetarist policies.

politician favouring monetarism

a person in favour of the prohibition of alcohol

person favouring prohibition of alcohol

• evangelical dries had seen to it that the nearest bottle of whiskey was miles away