bone-dry
/'boundrai/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Completely without moisture; extremely dry: "bone-dry" describes a state of absolute dryness, as dry as a sun-bleached bone.
- Prohibiting the sale of alcohol; teetotal: In a specific context, it can describe a place where alcohol sales are completely banned.
Usage
- The primary and most common use is to describe an extreme state of dryness.
- It functions as a predicate adjective (e.g., "The soil is bone-dry") or an attributive adjective (e.g., "bone-dry conditions").
- It is often used for emphasis, stronger than simply "dry" or "very dry."
Examples
- Adjective:
- After months of drought, the riverbed was bone-dry.
- We need to water the bone-dry lawn immediately.
- The old well has been bone-dry for years.
Advanced Usage
- "to get something bone-dry": to dry something completely.
- Make sure you get the towels bone-dry before putting them away.
- Used metaphorically to describe a lack of something non-physical, such as inspiration or funds.
- The writer's imagination was bone-dry after finishing the trilogy.
Variants and Related Words
- Bone-dry is a hyphenated compound adjective. Its spelling is fixed.
- Arid (adj): very dry, especially of climates or regions.
- Parched (adj): dried out with heat; extremely thirsty.
Synonyms
- Arid: lacking moisture.
- Desiccated: dried out.
- Parched: very dry, often from heat.
- Waterless: containing no water.
Antonyms
- Soaked: thoroughly wet.
- Saturated: holding as much water as possible.
- Damp: slightly wet.
- Moist: slightly wet.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- (As) dry as a bone: An idiom with the same meaning as "bone-dry."
- The desert was as dry as a bone.
- High and dry: In a difficult situation without help (different meaning, but shares the word "dry").
- The financial crisis left many investors high and dry.
Adjective
- without a trace of moisture; as dry as a weathered bone
- bone-dry leaves are a fire hazard
- a drier to get the clothes bone dry