INDEX:
1. not wet
2. when there is not much rain
3. to become dry
4. to make something dry or make yourself dry
5. something that has had liquid removed from it
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ WET
see also
↑ WEATHER
↑ WATER
↑ THIRSTY
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1. not wet
▷ dry /draɪ/ [adjective]
▪ You should change into some dry clothes.
▪ Keep the apples stored in a cool, dry place.
▪ The wood was dry and it burned easily.
▪ Can you check to see if the laundry’s dry?
bone dry/dry as a bone
completely dry
▪ I forgot to water the plants and the soil has gone bone dry.
2. when there is not much rain
▷ dry /draɪ/ [adjective]
if the weather is dry, there is not much rain :
▪ It was a very dry summer.
▪ The weather tomorrow will be sunny and dry.
▪ Tunisia has a hot, dry climate.
▪ In Arizona, the air is often extremely dry.
▷ drought /draʊt/ [countable/uncountable noun]
a long period when there is little or no rain, so that people and animals do not have enough water and plants die :
▪ Central Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts of the century.
▪ A severe drought has caused most of the corn crop to fail.
▷ dusty /ˈdʌsti/ [adjective]
a dusty road, town, track etc is dry and covered with dust, because the weather is hot and there is not much rain :
▪ The road to Bangalore was hot and dusty.
▪ Samandari lives in a small dusty village on the edge of the desert.
▷ arid /ˈærɪd, ˈærəd/ [adjective]
land that is arid is extremely dry and produces low quality crops because there is very little rain :
▪ Much of Namibia is arid country and only fit for raising goats.
▪ The region is an arid wasteland.
▷ parched /pɑːʳtʃt/ [adjective]
ground that is parched is completely dry because the weather has been very hot and there has been no rain for a long time :
▪ The earth was so parched that there were huge cracks in it.
▪ The parched yellow landscape of Death Valley stretched out for miles in front of us.
3. to become dry
▷ dry /draɪ/ [intransitive verb]
to become dry :
▪ This should only take a few minutes to dry.
▪ Wet clothes dry quickly on a sunny day.
▪ Leave the dishes on the draining board to dry.
hang something out to dry
hang clothes outside, so that they are dried by the sun or wind
▪ I like to hang the sheets out to dry. It gives them a fresh smell.
▷ dry out /ˌdraɪ ˈaʊt/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to become completely dry - use this about something that dries naturally in the air, sun etc :
▪ Hang your towel over the chair to dry it out.
▪ Cover the pastry with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out.
▪ Farmers will have to wait for fields to dry out before they can harvest their soybeans.
▷ dry up /ˌdraɪ ˈʌp/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if a river or lake etc dries up, it becomes completely dry because there has not been any rain :
▪ Last summer the river dried up and you could walk right across it.
▪ The town’s reservoir has nearly dried up and many homes are without water.
▪ Lake Elizabeth will not dry up, but its water level could drop.
▷ shrivel up /ˌʃrɪv ə l ˈʌp/ [intransitive verb]
if a plant or a fruit shrivels up it becomes smaller and deep lines form on its surface, because it has become very dry :
▪ There was so little rain that most of the crops shrivelled up and died.
4. to make something dry or make yourself dry
▷ dry /draɪ/ [transitive verb]
to make something dry :
▪ Could you wait ten minutes while I dry my hair?
▪ We built a fire to get ourselves warm and dry our clothes.
▷ dry yourself off /ˌdraɪ jɔːrself ˈɒf/ [verb phrase]
to use a towel to make yourself dry, for example after a bath or a swim :
▪ Evan got out of the pool and dried himself off.
▪ She began to dry herself off, talking to me over her shoulder.
▷ dry off /ˌdraɪ ˈɒf/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to dry the surface of something :
dry off something
▪ He dried off his bicycle seat with a towel.
dry something off
▪ Clean the plastic cover with a damp sponge, then dry it off with a soft cloth.
5. something that has had liquid removed from it
▷ dried /draɪd/ [adjective]
dried food or plants have been allowed to become dry, or have had the liquid taken out of them in order to preserve them :
▪ Dried herbs are convenient but I think fresh ones have more flavour.
▪ My friend Minu loves dried flowers.
▪ Add four tablespoons of dried milk to a pint of cold water, and stir until dissolved.