dry powder

noun

A powder found in a fire extinguisher that is expelled to smother the fire (in contrast with liquid types of extinguisher).

“Private equity firms were sitting on more than $1 trillion in dry powder at the end of 2011.”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noundry powder (countable and uncountable, plural dry powders)

plural dry powders

  1. countableuncountableA powder found in a fire extinguisher that is expelled to smother the fire (in contrast with liquid types of extinguisher).
  2. countableuncountableA powder found in an inhaler that delivers a bronchodilator for antiasthmatic or antiemphysemic purposes (indications).
  3. countableuncountablebusinessCash (or cash-like securities) kept in reserve in case of need.

    Private equity firms were sitting on more than $1 trillion in dry powder at the end of 2011.

  4. countableuncountableUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see dry, powder; especially, gunpowder kept dry to keep it from spoiling before use.

Origin

The financial sense comes by metaphor from the sense of gunpowder kept dry to allow rapid loading of a firearm, as in the expression keep one's powder dry.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Löschpulver
  • Löschpulverpowder from a fire extinguisher
Cite this entry
APA

dry powder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20powder

MLA

“dry powder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20powder. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dry powder,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20powder.

Source: dry powder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.