dry up

dried up; drying up; dries up

Definition of dry 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 & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about dry up

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Examples of dry up in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web This is not because investment opportunities in the country have suddenly dried up. — The Economist, "Uncertainty about Brexit is hampering business investment in Britain," 8 Oct. 2019 After the money dries up, in 2008, Ramona (who has a daughter of her own) enlists Destiny to solidify her business plan. — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, "'Hustlers’ review: J-Lo, Constance Wu and Cardi B strip Wall Street boys of their assets," 11 Sep. 2019 The idea, first developed in Russia during the Soviet era, stalled when research money dried up during tough economic times following the Cold War. — Chase Purdy, Quartz, "US scientists quadrupled milk’s shelf life using Soviet technology," 8 Aug. 2019 Some animals stick with each other through thick and thin, but others are—literally—fair-weather friends, abandoning their buddies from other species when the dry season dries up food resources. — Eva Frederick, Science | AAAS, "Animal friendships change with the weather in African savanna," 6 Aug. 2019 Like other big banks, Bank of America's markets business stumbled as vanishing volatility caused by the Fed's pivot led trading volumes to dry up. — Matt Egan, CNN, "Bank of America rakes in record profit driven by strength from US households," 17 July 2019 Eventually, the market could come around to players available in trades (if that is, indeed, the case with Whiteside and Dragic) when the free-agent class, or at least the top of it, dries up. — Ira Winderman, sun-sentinel.com, "ASK IRA: Is best approach with Dragic, Whiteside to wait for expiration date?," 26 June 2019 Changing sea levels appear to have caused the era’s shallow coastal waters to shrink, reducing megalodon’s hunting habitat to dry up. — Jamie Seidel, Fox News, "Prehistoric survivor? How we know the 'Meg' is dead," 15 Aug. 2018 So if that happens, liquidity is going to dry up on XRP and the price will plummet. — Jen Wieczner, Fortune, "Why This Cryptocurrency Fund Is Long Ethereum and EOS, Short Litecoin and Ripple," 29 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dry up.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for dry up

The first known use of dry up was in the 14th century

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