dry up
verb- To become dry (often of weather); to lose water. · I'll go shopping when it dries up.· Last summer the lake completely dried up.
- To cause to become dry. · The heatwave dried up all the rivers.
- To manually dry dishes and utensils. · I'll dry up if you wash up.
- To deprive someone of (something vital). · The bankruptcy rumor dried up his sales.
- To gradually decrease and eventually cease. · When our money dried up, we had to get proper jobs.· After the stock market crash, the easy financing dried up.
- 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.
- To forget one's lines.
- To stop talking or drop a topic. · Oh, dry up, you old fuddy-duddy!
From the library
Of the double moats which had guarded its more warlike predecessor, the outer had been allowed to dry up, and served the humble function of a kitchen garden.
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