Dry | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Dry, a.

adjective

a. [compar. DRIER; superl. DRIEST.] [A-S. dryg, dryge, drige, dræge, L. Ger. dröge, D. droog, O. H. Ger. trukan, N. H. Ger. trocken.]

Sense 1. Free from moisture of any kind; arid; not wet or moist; deficient in the natural or normal supply of moisture, as rain or fluid of any kind;—said especially, (a.) Of the weather, free from rain or mist. “The weather, we agreed, was too dry for the season.” Addison. (b.) Of vegetable matter, free from juices or sap; not green; as, dry wood or hay. (c.) Of animals, not giving milk; as, the cow is dry. (d.) Of persons, thirsty; needing drink. (e.) Of the eyes, not shedding tears. “Not a dry eye was to be seen in the assembly.” Prescott.

Sense 2. Destitute of that which interests or amuses; lacking pathos; barren; unembellished; plain. “A dry fable.” D’Estrange. “Dry subtilties.” Burnet.

Sense 3. Characterized by keenness, shrewdness, or sarcasm; shrewd; sharp.

He was rather a dry, shrewd kind of body. W. Irving.

Sense 4. (Fine Arts.) Exhibiting a sharp, frigid preciseness of execution, or the want of a delicate contour in form, and of easy transition in coloring.

Dry-cupping (Med.), the application of a cupping-glass without scarification of the skin. Dunglison.—Dry goods (Com.), cloths, stuffs, silks, laces, ribbons, &c., in distinction from groceries.—Dry measure, a measure of volume for dry or coarse articles, by the bushel, peck, &c.—Dry wine, that in which the saccharine matter and fermentation were so exactly balanced, that they have wholly neutralized each other, and no sweetness is perceptible;—opposed to sweet wine, in which the saccharine matter is in excess.

Dry, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. DRIED (drīd); p. pr. & vb. n. DRYING.] [A-S. drygan, drygean, adrygean, to make dry, drygian, adrygian, to grow dry, D. droogen, O. H. Ger. truknian, trukneian, N. H. Ger. trocken, to dry, to wipe, Icel. þurka, to dry thoroughly, Sw. torka; allied to Ger. dürr, dry, dried, Sw. torr, Dan. tör.] To free from water, or from moisture of any kind, and by any means; to exsiccate; as, to dry the eyes; the wind dries the earth; to dry a wet cloth; to dry hay.

To dry up. (a.) To scorch or parch with thirst; to deprive utterly of water; to consume. (b.) (Colloq.) To stop talking.

Their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Isa. v. 13.

The water of the sea, which formerly covered it, was in time exhaled and dried up by the sun. Woodward.

Dry, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To grow dry; to lose moisture; to become free from moisture or juice; as, the road dries rapidly. 2. To evaporate wholly; to be exhaled;—said of moisture, or a liquid;—sometimes with up; as, the stream dries, or dries up.