free from moisture or liquid; not wet or moist

the jacket kept me warm and dry

he wiped the table dry with his shirt

(of information, writing, etc.) dealing primarily with facts and presented in a dull, uninteresting way

he not only avoids dry accounts of regimes and rulers, but enables the reader to feel how the substance of daily life has changed

the commentary is very dry, with little of interest to even the most avid fan

(of a joke or sense of humour) subtle and expressed in a matter-of-fact way

he delighted his friends with a dry, covert sense of humour

prohibiting the sale or consumption of alcoholic drink

the country is strictly dry, in accordance with Islamic law

(of an alcoholic drink) not sweet

a dry, medium-bodied red wine

relating to political ‘dries’; rigidly monetarist

become dry

allow 24 hours for the paint to dry

forget one's lines

a colleague of mine once dried in the middle of a scene

the process or an instance of drying

a dry or covered place

a Conservative politician (especially in the 1980s) in favour of strict monetarist policies

a person in favour of the prohibition of alcohol

evangelical dries had seen to it that the nearest bottle of whiskey was miles away

a machine or device for drying something, especially the hair or laundry

putting their sweaters in the big dryer

a substance mixed with oil paint or ink to promote drying