drying

verb

present participle of dry
1
as in scorching
to make dry the wind quickly dried their clothes

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fading
to lose liveliness, force, or freshness his creative talents were just drying on the vine in that small, provincial town

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of drying After washing, the appliance can move through steam sanitization and hot-air drying before entering a 72-hour antibacterial storage mode, which circulates filtered air to help keep cleaned parts dry and ready for use. — New Atlas, 9 Sep. 2026 The machine then completes a 55-minute drying process, reducing the need to move bottles and pump parts to a separate drying rack. — Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026 Extended drying times mean Riddell often has up to 30 artworks in progress. — Clare Coulson, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2026 Apply toothpaste directly to the mark in question using your finger, then use your damp cloth to work the stain out of the wall, drying things off when it’s completely lifted out. — Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2026 Zellige tiles are made using a centuries-old process that involves hand-shaping Moroccan clay into tiles, sun drying and firing them, and then hand glazing each individual shape. — Alexandra Kelly, Martha Stewart, 5 Sep. 2026 But a lot has changed since the days of heavy, cakey, and overly drying foundations. — Alanna Martine Kilkeary, Glamour, 4 Sep. 2026 Taking medical histories, running tests, checking vitals, administering medications, and drying tears. — Dateline Nbc, NBC news, 3 Sep. 2026 Uniqlo offers Airism, a collection of light, smooth innerwear, T-shirts and casualwear designed to be cool-to-the-touch, moisture-wicking and fast-drying. — David Moin, Footwear News, 2 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drying
  1. scorching
  2. fading
  3. parching
  4. withering
  5. dehydrating
  6. wilting
  7. draining
  8. desiccating
Verb
  • Only one other spacecraft, NASA’s Messenger, has explored the puzzling, scorching planet that is just a little bigger than our moon.
    — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Prolonged periods of drought are scorching French pastures, leeching them of their usual lush green vitality and leaving behind parched, lifeless yellow fields.
    — Vivian Song, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of scorching
Verb
  • The historic watchmaker, which clocked nearly two centuries in the industry before fading into obscurity in the early 1990s, has officially relaunched with the help of Breitling.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The possibility of finding survivors ​elsewhere ⁠was fading, authorities said, but there was no letup in rescue operations as teams scoured the mountainside along the border with China where floods tore through towns and valleys.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of fading
Verb
  • Many of them, like Tubbs, were refugee Midwesterners, sick of parching droughts and devouring plagues of locusts, the insects descending in buzzing clouds thick enough to blacken the noonday sun.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
  • Alegria also sees wild rice production growing using the traditional Indigenous methods of drying, parching, dancing and winnowing at rice camps in northern Wisconsin.
    — Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 4 Dec. 2025
Definition of parching
Verb
  • Some reports suggested Bonta’s office sought the negotiations amid withering political pressure.
    — Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Everything was growing all at once, all over the place, blooming, withering, and crashing to the earth.
    — Kendra Nordin Beato, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of withering
Verb
  • In addition to air-frying, the Joule also has toasting, baking, broiling, roasting, proofing, reheating, slow cooking, warming and dehydrating functions, as well as settings for bagels, pizza and cookies.
    — BestReviews, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Guidance from Michigan State University recommends pretreating fruit by soaking it in a mixture of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and cold water, and steam blanching vegetables before dehydrating them.
    — Lauren Schuster, Kansas City Star, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of dehydrating
Verb
  • In the fall different flowers, the last of the season, will be finally wilting.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Sinner, who needed the title to complete a career Grand Slam of his own, lost to Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerúndolo from the verge of victory, wilting in the heat of Paris and with no little help from an illness.
    — James Hansen, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of wilting
Verb
  • Sadly, the production was a downer, draining Kushner’s masterpiece of color and humor and inserting, in their place, gloomy projections of cityscapes and, unaccountably, David Bowie songs.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Use a sunny spot, well-draining soil, and regular watering to keep mint thriving.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of draining
Verb
  • In the Rocky Mountains, years of extreme heat and drought have baked the landscape, drying up streams that feed the Colorado River and desiccating pastures where cattle graze.
    — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Suddenly, pest populations are large enough to make a meaningful impact, and one too many afternoons of 100+ degree weather have begun desiccating leaves.
    — Anthony Reardon, Kansas City Star, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of desiccating

Browse Nearby Words

dry-cleans
drying
drying up
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Cite this Entry

“Drying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drying. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.

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