Dry has 24 different meanings across 5 categories:
Noun · Verb · Adjective · Phrase · Proper Noun
a reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages
"The dry neighbor refused to let us store our wine cellar in his garage during the prohibition era."
The process by which something is dried.
"The drying of wet paint takes several hours before you can hang new pictures on the wall."
In plain English: A dry is a slang term for someone who does not drink alcohol.
"The dry was busy serving drinks to the guests at the wedding."
Usage: The noun form of "dry" refers to the process of removing moisture from something, such as when a towel dries your hair or a radiator dries wet clothes. Use this word when describing the action itself rather than the state of being arid or the lack of liquid.
To lose moisture.
"The freshly painted wall began to dry within an hour, leaving a smooth finish."
In plain English: To dry something means to make it no longer wet by removing the water from its surface.
"The towel is dry now."
Usage: Use "dry" as a verb when something loses its liquid content through evaporation or absorption, such as clothes drying in the sun or a river drying up. Do not use it to describe removing water from an object with a towel, which requires the phrase "dry off."
free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet
"dry land"
"dry clothes"
"a dry climate"
"dry splintery boards"
"a dry river bed"
"the paint is dry"
opposed to or prohibiting the production and sale of alcoholic beverages
"the dry vote led by preachers and bootleggers"
"a dry state"
(of liquor) having a low residual sugar content because of decomposition of sugar during fermentation
"a dry white burgundy"
"a dry Bordeaux"
without a mucous or watery discharge
"a dry cough"
"that rare thing in the wintertime; a small child with a dry nose"
having no adornment or coloration
"dry facts"
"rattled off the facts in a dry mechanical manner"
lacking warmth or emotional involvement
"a dry greeting"
"a dry reading of the lines"
"a dry critique"
Free from or lacking moisture.
"The fabric was completely dry after hanging outside all night."
In plain English: Dry means having no liquid or moisture in it.
"The towel was dry after I left it on the rack overnight."
Usage: Use "dry" to describe objects that lack liquid moisture, such as food, weather, or surfaces. Avoid using it to mean boring or uninteresting unless you are specifically referring to the humor in a story or speech.
Acronym of don't repeat yourself (“software development principle aimed at reducing repetition”).
"The developer insisted on following DRY to avoid pasting the same code block into every new function."
A surname.
"My neighbor Mr. Dry always invites everyone over for his famous homemade pies on Sundays."
The word "dry" comes from the Old English drȳġe, meaning "parched" or "withered." It ultimately traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root related to holding or supporting, which evolved through Germanic languages to describe something hard and lacking moisture.