One who, or that which, dries; a desiccative.
"The clothes dryer efficiently dried the wet laundry in just an hour."
In plain English: A dryer is an appliance that uses heat and air to remove moisture from clothes after they have been washed.
"I left my wet towels in the dryer to get them ready for tomorrow's laundry day."
Usage: Use the noun dryer to refer specifically to an appliance like a clothes dryer, while using the adjective drier only when comparing two things by degree of moisture. Avoid confusing this with "drier," which is simply the standard comparative form for both nouns and adjectives in most contexts.
comparative form of dry: more dry
"After weeks without rain, the air felt much dryer than usual."
In plain English: Dry is an adjective used to describe something that has no water or moisture on it.
"The dry clothes in the dryer were completely free from moisture, so they felt nice and comfortable to wear immediately after taking them out."
A surname.
"The local business owner, Mr. Dryer, welcomed his neighbors to the town square."
The word dryer comes from the Old French drier, meaning one who dries. It entered English as a straightforward agent noun formed by adding "-er" to "dry.