transitive verb
: to end the existence of by or as if by cutting off at the source or exhausting the supply
fear dried up the words — E.T.Thurston
closure of the Mediterranean dried up commerce in Western Europe
the finance-ministry project to dry up … their purchasing power by compulsory saving — George Axelsson
intransitive verb
1. : to disappear as if by evaporation, absorption, or draining : become exhausted (as of a supply) : cease to exist because of the cutting off of a source of supply or of vital elements
without intellectual enterprise, economic enterprise dries up — H.S.Commager
they are filling the vacuum left by the virtual drying up of immigration from Europe — Hal Burton
is not the only one whose power of expression dries up — Times Literary Supplement
2. : to wither or die through gradual loss of vitality
the skin keeps the body from drying up through evaporation of fluid — Morris Fishbein
under tyranny individual men dry up for lack of spiritual exercise — Lyman Bryson
3.
a. : to stop talking : be at a loss for words
he was so surprised and angry that he just dried up
“ Dry up! ” advised the grizzled old-timer — S.E.White
b. of an actor : to forget one's lines