Dry , v. i. 1. To
grow dry; to
become free from wetness, 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.
3.
To shrivel or wither; to
lose vitality.
And his hand, which he put forth
against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
I Kings xiii.
4.
Dry , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dried (?); p. pr. & vb.
n. Drying.]
[AS. drygan; cf. drugian to grow dry. See Dry, a.] To make dry; to free from water, or from moisture of any kind, and by any
means; to exsiccate; as, to dry
the eyes; to dry one's
tears; 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.
Their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Is. v. 13. The water of the
sea, which formerly covered it, was in time exhaled and dried up by
the sun.
Woodward. (b) To make to cease, as a stream of talk.
Their sources of revenue were dried up.
Jowett (Thucyd. ) -- To dry, or dry up, a cow, to cause a cow to cease secreting milk. Tylor.
Dry (?), a.
[Compar. Drier (?);
superl. Driest.]
[OE. dru&?;e, druye, drie, AS. dryge; akin to LG. dröge, D. droog, OHG. trucchan, G. trocken, Icel. draugr a
dry log. Cf. Drought, Drouth,
3d Drug.] 1. Free from moisture; having little humidity or none; 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 succulent; not green; as, dry wood or
hay. (c)
Of animals: Not giving milk; as, the cow is dry. (d) Of persons: Thirsty; needing drink.
Give the dry fool drink.
Shak (e) Of the eyes: Not shedding tears.
Not a dry
eye was to be seen in the assembly.
Prescott. (f) (Med.)
Of certain morbid conditions, in which there is entire or
comparative absence
of moisture; as, dry gangrene; dry catarrh.
2. Destitute of that which interests or amuses; barren; unembellished;
jejune; plain.
These epistles will become less dry, more susceptible of ornament.
Pope. 3. Characterized
by a quality somewhat severe, grave, or hard; hence, sharp; keen; shrewd; quaint; as, a
dry tone or manner; dry wit.
He was rather a dry, shrewd kind of body.
W.
Irving. 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 area (Arch.), a small open space reserved outside the foundation of a building to
guard it from damp. -- Dry blow. (a) (Med.) A blow which inflicts no wound, and
causes no effusion of blood. (b) A quick, sharp blow. -- Dry bone (Min.), Smithsonite, or carbonate of zinc; -- a miner's term. -- Dry castor (Zoöl.)
a kind of
beaver; -- called also parchment beaver.
-- Dry cupping.
(Med.) See under
Cupping. - - Dry dock. See under Dock. -- Dry fat. See Dry vat (below). -- Dry light, pure unobstructed
light; hence, a clear, impartial view. Bacon.
The
scientific man must keep his
feelings under stern control, lest they obtrude into his researches, and color the
dry light in which alone science desires to see its
objects.
J. C.
Shairp. -- Dry masonry. See Masonry. -- Dry measure, a system of measures of volume for
dry or coarse articles, by the bushel, peck, etc. -- Dry pile (Physics),
a form of
the Voltaic pile, constructed without the use of a liquid, affording a feeble current, and chiefly useful in the construction of
electroscopes of great delicacy; -- called also
Zamboni's , from the names of the
two earliest constructors of it. -- Dry pipe (Steam Engine), a pipe which conducts dry steam from a boiler. -- Dry plate (Photog.), a glass plate having a dry
coating sensitive to light, upon which photographic negatives or
pictures can be made, without moistening.
-- Dry-plate process, the process of photographing with dry plates. -- Dry point. (Fine Arts) (a)
An engraving made with the
needle instead of the burin,
in which the work is done nearly as in etching, but is finished without the use acid. (b) A print from such an engraving, usually upon paper. (c) Hence: The needle with which such an
engraving is made. -- Dry rent (Eng. Law), a rent reserved by deed, without a clause of distress. Bouvier. -- Dry rot, a decay of timber, reducing its fibers to the condition of a dry powdery dust, often accompanied by the presence of a peculiar
fungus (Merulius lacrymans), which is sometimes considered the cause of the
decay; but it is more probable that the real cause is the
decomposition of the wood itself. D. C.
Eaton. Called also sap rot, and, in
the United States, powder post.
Hebert. -- Dry stove, a hothouse adapted to preserving
the plants of arid climates. Brande & C. -- Dry vat, a vat, basket, or other receptacle for dry articles. -- 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.
Hear it pronounced