dry cleaning

noun

1

: the cleansing of fabrics with substantially nonaqueous organic solvents

2

: something that is dry-cleaned

Examples of dry cleaning in a Sentence

I can pick up the dry cleaning on my way home.

Recent Examples on the Web

Remedies include dry cleaning, freezing, steaming, sunlight, and natural repellents. — Nafeesah Allen, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 July 2026

Their customers are busy professionals who don’t enjoy shopping, don’t want to think about what to wear each morning, and would gladly eliminate laundry and dry cleaning from their weekly routines. — Angela Chan-Danisi, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026

Unlike 100 percent linen pants that require special care (and sometimes dry cleaning), these affordable alternatives are easy to wash, too. — Sian Babish, PEOPLE, 29 June 2026

Among other communities receiving brownfields grants this month was East Hartford, which got $100,000 toward an environmental assessment and remediation planning for a former dry cleaning business at 832 Silver Lane. — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 26 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dry cleaning

• careening
• convening
• demeaning
• housecleaning
• machining
• unmeaning
• contravening
• intervening
• overweening
• supervening
• gleaning
• greening