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

The drug money that funded Davis’ lifestyle has long since dried up, and his defense depends on a lawyer willing to take his case for free. — Andy Rose, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026

Their multimillion-dollar media deals with Netflix and Spotify have dried up and Harry is potentially facing millions of dollars in legal fees after losing his privacy case against the Daily Mail. — Martha Ross, Mercury News, 22 Aug. 2026

Its work-for-hire business was drying up and Letter believed the company had time for one more attempt. — Ian Shepherd, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

The glaring issue, however, is that Ottawa’s prospect pool has completely dried up behind them. — Corey Pronman, New York Times, 21 Aug. 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