Dry - English meaning

adjective

Refraining from an activity or from the consumption of something, especially alcohol.

Usage examples:

The patients are best advised to be totally abstinent from alcohol

adjective

Completely avoiding something such as alcohol or sex

Usage examples:

Sexually abstinent, he has now been abstinent from alcohol for four years.

adjective

Having a scalp wholly or partly lacking hair.

Usage examples:

He was starting to go bald

adjective

(of a person or part of the body) not clothed or covered.

Usage examples:

He was bare from the waist up

verb

Uncover (a part of the body or other thing) and expose it to view.

Usage examples:

He bared his chest to show his scar

determiner

A large amount or number of.

Usage examples:

My birthday's on the 22nd—i'm gonna get bare cash

adjective

Forming an essential foundation or starting point; fundamental.

Usage examples:

Certain basic rules must be obeyed

noun

The essential facts or principles of a subject or skill.

Usage examples:

I learnt the basics of programming on a course

noun

A simple high-level computer programming language that uses familiar english words, designed for beginners and formerly used widely.

Usage examples:

You could write your own software in the basic programming language

adjective

(of insects and certain other animals) able to wound the skin with a sting or fangs.

Usage examples:

A cream to ward off biting insects

verb

(of a person or animal) use the teeth to cut into or through something.

Usage examples:

He bit off a piece of cheese

noun

A bite-sized piece of food; a small snack, appetizer, or canapé.

Usage examples:

The hotel bar serves cocktails and delicious bitings

adjective

Having a sharp, pungent taste or smell; not sweet.

Usage examples:

Raw berries have an intensely bitter flavour

noun

Beer that is strongly flavoured with hops and has a bitter taste, brewed by top fermentation.

Usage examples:

A pint of bitter

adjective

Having a slightly stinging, strong taste, not salty or sweet

Usage examples:

The coffee was bitter., losing the election was a bitter disappointment., she has no bitterness abo…

adjective

Not interesting; tedious.

Usage examples:

I've got a boring job in an office

verb

Make (a hole) in something with a tool or by digging.

Usage examples:

Bore a hole in the wall to pass the cable through

verb

Cause (someone) to feel weary and uninterested by dull talk or behaviour.

Usage examples:

She is too polite to bore us with anecdotes

adjective

Hard but liable to break easily.

Usage examples:

Her bones became fragile and brittle

noun

A brittle sweet made from nuts and set melted sugar.

Usage examples:

Peanut brittle

adjective

Free from dirt, marks, or stains.

Usage examples:

The room was spotlessly clean

adverb

So as to be free from dirt, marks, or unwanted matter.

Usage examples:

The room had been washed clean

verb

Make clean; remove dirt, marks, or stains from.

Usage examples:

Clean your teeth properly after meals

adjective

Of or at a low or relatively low temperature, especially when compared with the human body.

Usage examples:

A freezing cold day

noun

A low temperature; cold weather; a cold environment.

Usage examples:

My teeth chattered with the cold

adverb

Completely; entirely.

Usage examples:

We stopped cold behind a turn in the staircase

adjective

(of a substance) firm, dry, and brittle.

Usage examples:

Crisp bacon

noun

A wafer-thin slice of potato fried or baked until crisp and eaten as a snack.

Usage examples:

Cut down on fatty snacks such as crisps

verb

Give (food) a crisp surface by placing it in an oven or under a grill.

Usage examples:

Crisp the pitta in the oven

adjective

(of food) having a firm, dry, and brittle surface or texture.

Usage examples:

Crispy fried bacon

adjective

Crispy food is hard enough to be broken easily

Usage examples:

Crispy bacon

adjective

Believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.

Usage examples:

He was brutally cynical and hardened to every sob story under the sun

Believing the worst of human nature and motives

adjective

Not trusting or respecting the goodness of other people and their actions, but believing that people are interested only in themselves

Usage examples:

Listening to politicians for too long can make you cynical., she’s become cynical about men., he’s …

adjective

Impassive or expressionless.

Usage examples:

She delivered her monologue in a deadpan voice

adverb

In a deadpan manner.

Usage examples:

‘that's all right then,’ claire said, deadpan

verb

Say something amusing while affecting a serious manner.

Usage examples:

‘i'm an undercover dentist,’ he dead-panned

adjective

Having lost a large amount of water from the body.

Usage examples:

His body temperature was high and he had become dehydrated

verb

Cause (a person or their body) to lose a large amount of water.

Usage examples:

The heat dehydrated us even when we stood still

adjective

Not having the normal amount of water in your body so that you feel ill or weak

adjective

Having had all moisture removed; dried out.

Usage examples:

The withered, desiccated landscape

verb

Remove the moisture from (something); cause to become completely dry.

Usage examples:

Both the older growth and the new vegetation were desiccated by months of relentless sun

adjective

Dried, with the moisture removed

Usage examples:

100 g of desiccated coconut, all the party seems to have to offer is the same desiccated old ideas.

adjective

Depressingly dull and bleak or repetitive.

Usage examples:

The dreary round of working, eating, and trying to sleep

adjective

Unattractive and having nothing of any interest, and therefore likely to make you sad

Usage examples:

It was a gray, dreary day, with periods of rain.

adjective

Preserved by removal or evaporation of moisture.

Usage examples:

Dried fruit

verb

Become dry.

Usage examples:

Allow 24 hours for the paint to dry

Past simple and past participle of dry

adjective

Curious or unusual in a way that provokes dry amusement.

Usage examples:

His unique brand of droll self-mockery

noun

A jester or entertainer; a buffoon.

Usage examples:

When english replaced cornish as the language of cornwall, the drolls' stories began to die out as …

adjective

Amusing in an unusual way

Usage examples:

I always loved his droll sense of humor.

adjective

Lacking interest or excitement.

Usage examples:

Your diet doesn't have to be dull and boring

verb

Make or become dull or less intense.

Usage examples:

Time dulls the memory

adjective

Not interesting or exciting; boring

Usage examples:

Many of the courtroom events were dull and routine., the lecture was dry, dull, and full of statist…

adjective

Forming a necessary base or core; of central importance.

Usage examples:

The protection of fundamental human rights

noun

A central or primary rule or principle on which something is based.

Usage examples:

Two courses cover the fundamentals of microbiology

adjective

Being the most basic or most important thing on which other things depend

Usage examples:

Fundamental beliefs/principles, we need to make fundamental changes in the way we treat our environ…

adjective

Solid, firm, and rigid; not easily broken, bent, or pierced.

Usage examples:

The slate broke on the hard floor

adverb

With a great deal of effort.

Usage examples:

They work hard at school

noun

(of a consonant) pronounced as a velar plosive (as c in cat, g in go ).

adjective

Having become or been made hard or harder.

Usage examples:

Hardened steel

verb

Make or become hard or harder.

Usage examples:

Wait for the glue to harden

adjective

Having developed a way of dealing with bad experiences so that they no longer upset you

Usage examples:

The judge called him a hardened criminal (= one who will not stop his criminal activity).

adjective

Using or characterized by irony.

Usage examples:

His mouth curved into an ironic smile

adjective

(of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words.

Usage examples:

His laconic reply suggested a lack of interest in the topic

adjective

Using very few words to express what you mean

Usage examples:

“i might,” was the laconic reply.

adjective

Simple and not attracting attention

Usage examples:

The wedding will be a low-key affair, with fewer than thirty guests.

adjective

Making fun of someone or something in a cruel way; derisive.

Usage examples:

He got jeers and mocking laughter as he addressed the marchers

verb

Tease or laugh at in a scornful or contemptuous manner.

Usage examples:

Opposition mps mocked the government's decision

adjective

Mocking behaviour involves laughing at someone or something in an unkind way

Usage examples:

A mocking voice, mocking humour/laughter

noun

Someone who supports the idea of monetarism

Usage examples:

He was a monetarist who treated economic problems as technical challenges., a commission headed by …

adjective

Dull, tedious, and repetitious; lacking in variety and interest.

Usage examples:

The statistics that he quotes with monotonous regularity

adjective

Boring because of never changing

Usage examples:

She stood all day ironing a monotonous succession of clothes and sheets.

adjective

(especially of humour) having or showing a sharp or critical quality; biting.

Usage examples:

A mordant sense of humour

noun

A substance, typically an inorganic oxide, that combines with a dye or stain and thereby fixes it in a material.

Usage examples:

In order to get the color to stick well on the fiber, the wool was usually pretreated with a metal …

verb

Impregnate or treat (a fabric) with a mordant.

Usage examples:

Mordanting a fibre is simple

adjective

(of a person or part of the body) without clothes.

Usage examples:

He'd never seen a naked woman before

adjective

Not wearing any clothes

preposition

Short for of, used to represent a pronunciation.

Usage examples:

A cup o' coffee

abbreviation

Ortho-.

Usage examples:

O -xylene

suffix

Forming chiefly informal or slang variants or derivatives such as beano, wino.

adjective

Having lived for a long time; no longer young.

Usage examples:

The old man lay propped up on cushions

Having lived for a long time or attained a specific age

phrase

Abstaining from drinking alcohol.

Usage examples:

He was supposed to be on the wagon

idiom

If you are on the wagon, you have decided not to drink any alcohol

Usage examples:

He was on the wagon for ten years, when he was living in connecticut.

adjective

Dried out with heat.

Usage examples:

The parched earth

verb

Make or become dry through intense heat.

Usage examples:

A piece of grassland parched by the sun

adjective

Having a pleasantly sharp taste or appetizing flavour.

Usage examples:

A piquant tartare sauce

adjective

Having a strong, slightly sour, slightly spicy taste or smell

Usage examples:

A piquant sauce

adjective

Not showing what you are thinking or feeling in your face

Usage examples:

She sat poker-faced all the way through the film.

noun

Someone who supports officially not allowing something, especially the sale of alcohol

Usage examples:

Most people who are trying to tackle problem drinking are not prohibitionists., carrie nation, one …

noun

Someone who supports officially not allowing something, especially the sale of alcohol

Usage examples:

Most people who are trying to tackle problem drinking are not prohibitionists., carrie nation, one …

adjective

Opposing political or social progress or reform.

Usage examples:

Reactionary attitudes toward women's rights

noun

A reactionary person.

Usage examples:

He was later to become an extreme reactionary

noun

A person who opposes political or social change

Usage examples:

Reactionary forces opposed to the president’s reforms could move to oust him.

adjective

Supporting the political opinions of the right

noun

A person who supports the political right

adjective

Marked by or given to using irony in order to mock or convey contempt.

Usage examples:

Making sarcastic comments

adjective

Using remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what you say, in order to hurt someone's feelings or to humorously criticize something

Usage examples:

A sarcastic comment/remark, are you being sarcastic?

adjective

Grimly mocking or cynical.

Usage examples:

Starkey attempted a sardonic smile

adjective

Sarcastic.

Usage examples:

And where you'd expect jack to be his usual sarky, caustic self, he was so unnervingly straight and…

adjective

Informal for sarcastic

adjective

Containing or using satire.

Usage examples:

A new york-based satirical magazine

adjective

Contemptuously ridiculing or mocking someone or something.

Usage examples:

A scoffing cabin crew tells her there's no shower on the plane

noun

Contemptuous ridicule or mockery.

Usage examples:

He had to overcome the scoffing of theoretical physicists

verb

Speak to someone or about something in a scornfully derisive or mocking way.

Usage examples:

Patrick professed to scoff at soppy love scenes in films

adjective

(of an object) having an edge or point that is able to cut or pierce something.

Usage examples:

Cut the cake with a very sharp knife

adverb

Precisely (used after an expression of time).

Usage examples:

The meeting starts at 7.30 sharp

noun

A musical note raised a semitone above natural pitch.

Usage examples:

Choices in successive levels expand to all notes, then sharps and flats.

adjective

Wrinkled and shrunken, especially as a result of loss of moisture or old age.

Usage examples:

A handful of shrivelled leaves

verb

Wrinkle and contract or cause to wrinkle and contract, especially due to loss of moisture.

Usage examples:

The flowers simply shrivelled up

adjective

Easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty.

Usage examples:

A simple solution

noun

A medicinal herb, or a medicine made from one.

Usage examples:

The gatherers of simples

exclamation

Of very low intelligence.

adjective

Having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature.

Usage examples:

A sly, manipulative woman

adjective

Not letting others know true opinions or intentions, or dishonest

Usage examples:

She thought that by being sly, she could fool people., a cat can be a very sly animal., he winked s…

adjective

Not affected by alcohol; not drunk.

Usage examples:

Drunk or sober, he was driven by a manic energy and impatience that made him a difficult friend and…

verb

Make or become sober after drinking alcohol.

Usage examples:

That coffee sobered him up

adjective

Having had no alcohol; not drunk

Usage examples:

The sober expression had not left martin’s face.

adjective

(of food) no longer fresh and pleasant to eat; hard, musty, or dry.

Usage examples:

Stale bread

verb

Make or become stale.

Usage examples:

She would cut up yesterday's leftover bread, staling now

verb

(of an animal, especially a horse) urinate.

Usage examples:

The horse staled while he was riding

adjective

Severe or bare in appearance or outline.

Usage examples:

The ridge formed a stark silhouette against the sky

adjective

Empty or without decoration

Usage examples:

Stark white walls, the dim halls made a stark contrast with the bright, sun-drenched apartment.

adjective

Extending or moving uniformly in one direction only; without a curve or bend.

Usage examples:

A long, straight road

adverb

In a straight line; directly.

Usage examples:

He was gazing straight at her

noun

(especially of drama) serious as opposed to comic or musical.

Usage examples:

A straight play

adjective

Without laughing or smiling

Usage examples:

We laughed, but chris was straight-faced and seemed a little offended by the joke.

adjective

Uncomplicated and easy to do or understand.

Usage examples:

In a straightforward case no fees will be charged

adjective

Easy to understand; clear

Usage examples:

The doctor explained the operation in straightforward english., she’s a straightforward, no-nonsens…

adjective

(especially of a change or distinction) so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyse or describe.

Usage examples:

His language expresses rich and subtle meanings

adjective

Not loud, bright, noticeable, or obvious

Usage examples:

Subtle flavors, a subtle shade of pink, the subtle nuances of english pronunciation are hard to mas…

adjective

An area of land or a place that is sun-baked is very dry and obviously receives a lot of sun

Usage examples:

We strolled along the sun-baked streets of naples.

noun

The part of a country's economy that involves producing goods and supplying services

Usage examples:

The country's main constraints to growth are on the supply side., what are the main supply-side pro…

noun

An open pastry case containing a sweet or savoury filling.

Usage examples:

An apple tart

verb

Dress or make oneself up in order to look attractive.

Usage examples:

I tarted myself up for the night

adjective

Sharp or acid in taste.

Usage examples:

A tart apple

adjective

Too long, slow, or dull; tiresome or monotonous.

Usage examples:

A tedious journey

adjective

Choosing or characterized by abstinence from alcohol.

Usage examples:

A teetotal lifestyle

adjective

Never drinking alcohol or opposed to the drinking of alcohol

adjective

Causing one to feel bored or annoyed.

Usage examples:

Weeding is a tiresome but essential job

adjective

Tiring, annoying, or boring

Usage examples:

It’s getting a little tiresome, listening to you complain.

adjective

Completely loyal to a person or belief

adjective

Not adorned; plain.

Usage examples:

It was very simple, its walls unadorned

adjective

Plain and simple, with little or no decoration

Usage examples:

Her unadorned beauty

adjective

Not embellished or decorated.

Usage examples:

The unembellished truth

adjective

Not exciting; dull.

Usage examples:

Many school prospectuses are dull and unexciting

adjective

Not exciting

Usage examples:

He found life in the small town unexciting and wanted to travel the world., the museum has a pleasa…

adjective

Not arousing curiosity or interest.

Usage examples:

The scenery is dull and uninteresting

adjective

Not interesting

adjective

Humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner.

Usage examples:

A waggish riposte

adjective

Causing one to feel tired or bored.

Usage examples:

They have schedules and inventories that tell them in wearisome detail what they should look for

adjective

Causing a person to be tired; boring

Usage examples:

A long project becomes wearisome and loses its excitement for me.

adjective

(of a plant) dry and shrivelled.

Usage examples:

Withered leaves

verb

(of a plant) become dry and shrivelled.

Usage examples:

The grass had withered to an unappealing brown

adjective

Dry and decaying

Usage examples:

Withered leaves/flowers

adjective

Shrivelled or wrinkled with age.

Usage examples:

A wizened, weather-beaten old man

adjective

Having dry skin showing many lines, esp. because of old age

Usage examples:

A wizened old man

adjective

Using or expressing dry, especially mocking, humour.

Usage examples:

A wry smile