drying up

Verb

dry up (third-person singular simple present dries up, present participle drying up, simple past and past participle dried up)

1. (intransitive) To become dry (often of weather); to lose water.
   • I'll go shopping when it dries up.

   Synonyms:

   desiccate, dehydrate

2. (transitive) To cause to become dry.
   • The heatwave dried up all the rivers.

   Synonyms:

   desiccate, dehydrate

3. (ambitransitive, intransitive) To manually dry dishes and utensils.
   • I'll dry up if you wash up.

   Synonyms:

   dry, wipe up

4. (transitive) To deprive someone of (something vital).
   • The bankruptcy rumor dried up his sales.
5. (intransitive) To gradually decrease and eventually cease.
   • When our money dried up, we had to get proper jobs.

   Synonyms:

   wither away

6. (intransitive) To stop talking because one has forgotten what one was going to say.
   • This surprised me so much that I dried up for a moment.

See all 8 meanings of dry up