Definition

1. 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

1. 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