dry

See also DRY

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɹaɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ

Etymology 1

From Old English dryġe (“dry”)

Adjective

dry (comparative drier, superlative driest or dryest)

1. Free from liquid or moisture.

   Could you hand me a dry towel?

   My throat feels itchy and dry.

   Cover the chicken as it bakes or it'll get too dry.

2. (chemistry) Free of water in any state; anhydrous

   Dry alcohol is 200 proof.

3. (of an alcoholic beverage) Lacking sugar or low in sugar; not sweet.

   I like to take a dry sherry before lunch on Sundays.

4. Maintaining temperance; void or abstinent from alcoholic beverages.

   A former alcoholic, he's been dry for almost a year now.

   You'll have to drive out of this dry county to find any liquor.

   It was a dry house.

5. (of a person or joke) Subtly humorous, yet without mirth.
6. (of a scientist or his laboratory) Not working with chemical or biological matter, but, rather, doing computations.

Synonyms

• (free from liquid or moisture): arid, parched

Antonyms

• (free from liquid or moisture): wet
• (abstinent from alcohol): wet
• (of a scientist or lab: doing computation): wet

Derived terms

Terms derived from dry (adjective)

bone dry dry as a bone dry as a dead dingo’s donger dry cough dry hole dry ice drily

dry run dryly dryness dry spell drywall dry weight like watching paint dry

Translations

free from liquid or moisture

Afrikaans: dor Albanian: i thatë Arabic: جاف (ar) (jaaf) Armenian: չոր (čor) Balinese: please add this translation if you can Basque: lehor (eu) Belarusian: сухі (be) (suxi) Bulgarian: сух (bg) Catalan: eixut, sec Chamicuro: poshewa Chinese: Mandarin: 乾 (cmn), 干 (cmn) (gān), 乾燥 (cmn), 干燥 (cmn) (gānzào) Czech: suchý (cs) m. Danish: tør (da) Dutch: droog (nl), droge (nl) Esperanto: seka (eo) Estonian: kuiv (et) Faroese: turrur (fo) Finnish: kuiva (fi) French: sec (fr) m., sèche (fr) f. Galician: seco (gl) Georgian: გამშრალი (gamšrali), მშრალი (ka) (mšrali) German: trocken (de) Greek: στεγνός (el) m. (stegnós), ξηρός (el) (xirós) m. Hebrew: יָבֵשׁ (he) (yavésh) Hindi: सूखा (hi) (sūkhā) Hungarian: száraz (hu) Icelandic: þurr (is) Ido: sika (io) Indonesian: kering (id) Irish: tirim (ga) Italian: secco (it), asciutto (it) Japanese: 乾いた (ja) (かわいた, kawaita) Korean: 마른 (ko) (mareun), 건 (ko) (geon)

Kurdish: وشک Latgalian: sauss m., trosks m. Latin: siccus (la) Latvian: sauss (lv) Lithuanian: sausas (lt) Luxembourgish: dréchen (lb) Navajo: yíłtseii Norwegian: tørr (no) Old English: dryġe (ang) Old Norse: þurr (non) Persian: خشک (fa) (xošk) Polish: suchy (pl) Portuguese: seco (pt) m. Romanian: uscat (ro) Russian: сухой (ru) (suxój) Scottish Gaelic: tioram (gd) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: су̑х (sh) Roman: sȗh (sh) Slovak: suchý (sk) Slovene: súh (sl) Spanish: seco (es) m. Swahili: -kavu (sw) Swedish: torr (sv) Tagalog: tuyô Telugu: పొడి Thai: แห้ง (th) (hâeng) Ukrainian: сухий (uk) (suxýj) Urdu: سوکھا (ur) (sūkhā) Vietnamese: khô (vi) Volapük: sägik (vo) Welsh: sych (cy) West Frisian: droech (fy) Yiddish: פֿאַרטריקנט (fartríknt)

free of water in any state

Bulgarian: сух (bg) Finnish: kuiva (fi), vedetön (fi), absoluuttinen (fi) (alcohol) Greek: άνυδρος (el) (ánydros) m.

Kurdish: وشک Romanian: uscat (ro) m. and n., deshidratat (ro) m. and n., arid (ro) m. and n. Turkish: kuru (tr)

maintaining temperance

German: trocken (de) Greek: στεγνός (el) (stegnós) m.

Swedish: torrlagd (sv) (involuntarily), vit (sv) (informal, rare)

doing computations

Etymology 2

From Old English dryġan (“to dry”), from dryġe (“dry”)

Verb

dry (third-person singular simple present dries, present participle drying, simple past and past participle dried)

1. (intransitive) To lose moisture.

   The clothes dried on the line.

2. (transitive) To remove moisture from.

   Devin dried her eyes with a handkerchief.

Derived terms

• drier
• dryer
• dry out
• dry up
• nondrying

See also

• desiccant
• desiccate
• desiccation

Translations

to become dry

Armenian: չորանալ (hy) (čoranal) Bulgarian: съхна (bg), изсъхвам (bg) Catalan: assecar, eixugar Czech: schnout (cs) Dutch: droog worden Estonian: kuivama Finnish: kuivua (fi), kuivaa (fi) French: sécher (fr) German: trocknen (de) Hebrew: התייבש \ הִתְיַבֵּשׁ (he) (hityabésh) Hungarian: szárad (hu) Icelandic: þorna (is) Italian: asciugarsi (it) Japanese: 乾く (かわく, kawaku)

Korean: 마르다 (ko) (mareuda) Kurdish: وشک بوون Latvian: žūt (lv), izžūt (lv) Lithuanian: džiūti (lt), išdžiūti (lt) Polish: wysychać Portuguese: secar (pt) Romanian: usca (ro) Russian: сохнуть (ru) (sóxnut') impf.; высыхать (ru) (vysyxát') impf., высохнуть (ru) (výsoxnut') pf. Spanish: secarse (es) Swedish: torka (sv) Telugu: ఆరిపోవు Welsh: sychu (cy)

to make dry

Arabic: يبس (ar) (yábbasa), جفف (ar) (jáffafa) Armenian: չորացնել (hy) (čorac'nel) Bulgarian: суша (bg), изсушавам (bg) Catalan: eixugar, assecar Chinese: Mandarin: 燥 (cmn) (zào), (wipe) 擦乾 (cmn), 擦干 (cmn) (cāgān) Dutch: drogen (nl) Estonian: kuivatama Finnish: kuivata (fi), kuivattaa (fi) French: sécher (fr) German: trocknen (de) Hebrew: ייבש \ יִבֵּשׁ (he) (yibésh) Hungarian: szárít (hu) Icelandic: þurrka (is) Italian: asciugare (it)

Japanese: 乾かす (ja) (かわかす, kawakasu), (wipe) 拭く (ja) (ふく, fuku) Korean: 말리다 (mallida) Kurdish: وشک کردن Latin: sicco (la), exsuco (la) Latvian: žāvēt  (lv) Lithuanian: džiovinti (lt) Polish: osuszać Portuguese: secar (pt) Romanian: usca (ro) Russian: сушить (ru) (sušít') impf., высушить (ru) (výsušit') pf.; (wipe) вытирать (ru) (vytirát') impf., вытереть (ru) (výteret') pf. Spanish: secar (es) Swedish: torka (sv) Telugu: ఆరబెట్టు Welsh: sychu (cy)

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Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dryː/

Etymology

From Celtic *druwis: cognate with Old Irish druí (Irish draoi, Gaelic druidh ‘magician’).

Noun

drȳ m.

1. a sorcerer or magician

   Hi woldon forbærnan ðone dry. —Ælfric’s Homilies, vol. 1. (‘They would burn the sorceror.’)

Derived terms

• drȳcræft
• drȳecge