dry up
verb
dried up; drying up; dries up
: to cut off the supply of
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
Examples of dry up in a Sentence
sick of her constant complaining, he angrily told her to dry up
Recent Examples on the Web
Elsewhere, lakes are drying up, and dams are flooding millennia-old villages and historic sites.
—
Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
Vonn welcomed the weight placed on her shoulders, gladly serving as an example that a woman’s athletic career need not dry up with age – or through injuries.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 8 Feb. 2026
Boise State’s 3-point shooting finally dried up down the stretch, with the Broncos failing to make a field goal across the final 4 minutes, 50 seconds of the game.
—Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 7 Feb. 2026
As mortgage loan application volumes dried up after the pandemic and the easy refinance era ended, lenders like PennyMac have struggled to replace that business with profitable new originations.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dry up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026
Vonn welcomed the weight placed on her shoulders, gladly serving as an example that a woman’s athletic career need not dry up with age – or through injuries.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 8 Feb. 2026
Boise State’s 3-point shooting finally dried up down the stretch, with the Broncos failing to make a field goal across the final 4 minutes, 50 seconds of the game.
—Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 7 Feb. 2026
As mortgage loan application volumes dried up after the pandemic and the easy refinance era ended, lenders like PennyMac have struggled to replace that business with profitable new originations.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dry up
Cite this Entry
“Dry up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dry%20up. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
