1.
If something dries up or if something dries it up , it loses all its moisture and becomes completely dry and shrivelled or hard.
As the day goes on, the pollen dries up and becomes hard...
Warm breezes from the South dried up the streets.
PHRASAL VERB : V P , V P n (not pron) , also V n P
• dried-up
...a tuft or two of dried-up grass.
= desiccated
ADJ
2.
If a river, lake, or well dries up , it becomes empty of water, usually because of hot weather and a lack of rain.
Reservoirs are drying up and farmers have begun to leave their land...
PHRASAL VERB : V P
• dried-up
...a dried-up river bed.
= dry
ADJ
3.
If a supply of something dries up , it stops.
Investment could dry up and that could cause the economy to falter...
PHRASAL VERB : V P
4.
If you dry up when you are speaking, you stop in the middle of what you were saying, because you cannot think what to say next.
If you ask her what she’s good at she will dry up after two minutes.
PHRASAL VERB : V P
5.
see dry 3
6.
see also dried-up , drying up