dry up

verb

dried up; drying up; dries up

transitive verb

: to cut off the supply of

intransitive verb

1

: to disappear as if by evaporation, draining, or cutting off of a source of supply

2

: to wither or die through gradual loss of vitality

3

: to stop talking

Synonyms of dry up

• quiet (down)
• hush
• clam up
• shut up
• settle (down)
• pipe down
• cool (down)
• calm (down)

Examples of dry up in a Sentence

sick of her constant complaining, he angrily told her to dry up

Recent Examples on the Web

But what happens when health care openings start drying up, too? —Conor Sen, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026

Things will seemingly dry up, with a few days of sunshine and wind beginning Sunday. —Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register, 7 Mar. 2026

But in 2026, new funds for the program have dried up due to a lack of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds awarded to Oklahoma by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. —Dale Denwalt, Oklahoman, 6 Mar. 2026

The school received state grant funding to open, but a decade later, after those initial funds dried up, staff must chase down donations from local businesses. —Miranda Dunlap, jsonline.com, 6 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for dry up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup