dry out

To remove all or most of the water from something.

• The sun will dry out the towels.
• The hot air dried out my skin.
• Can we dry these boots out by the fire?

How to use it: dry something out (The heater dried my shoes out overnight.)

Similar words: dry, dehydrate

Opposites: moisten, wet

Common phrases: dry out clothes, dry out something, dry something out

To lose water or moisture and become dry.

• My shoes need to dry out.
• The soil dried out during the hot summer.
• Keep the lid on so the bread does not dry out.

Similar words: dry, dehydrate

Common phrases: dry out completely, dry out quickly, dry out overnight

To stop using alcohol or drugs and recover from their effects, or help someone do this.

• He went to a clinic to dry out.
• She dried out after years of heavy drinking.
• They helped him dry out before he returned home.

How to use it: dry out in somewhere (He spent several weeks drying out in a clinic.); dry someone out (The clinic helped dry him out.)

Similar words: sober up, detox

Common phrases: dry out somewhere, dry someone out

When a bowling lane does this, its oil covering becomes thinner and changes how balls move.

• The bowling lane began to dry out.
• As the lanes dried out, our balls curved more.
• These lanes dry out faster when many players use them.

Common phrases: dry out gradually, dry out unevenly