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

Farmers are drying up acreage and, for about 40 miles downstream of Bend, fish habitats suffer, state scientists told us. — Emily Cureton Cook, ProPublica, 26 June 2026

So much of Jaeychino’s ethos is informed by the improbability of beating the odds, the sentimentality that comes with that, and the ability to flex on niggas when your tears dry up. — Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 25 June 2026

Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister expressed concerns about the site going unmonitored during evening hours and how the city would recoup its money if the property owner was unable to pay in the future, or if federal dollars dried up. — Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 25 June 2026

So the foundation really is to jkeep that energy going, as a place where people can donate, and something that can pick up the slack now that funding is drying up in other areas, because of what’s happening with the government and these kinds of things. — Chris Willman, Variety, 25 June 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