Meanings
- IrelandUKidiomaticinformaltemporarily refraining from drinking alcohol
Then, maybe two weeks before cameras rolled, he'd put the blinkers on again and totally focus on it, and that included staying off the booze. 'I'm on the dry,' he'd announce.
2013, Robert Sellers, “A Date with Cronenburg”, in What Fresh Lunacy is This?: The Authorized Biography of Oliver Reed, Little, Brown Book Group, →ISBN, page 1752 more examples
I bumped into an old mate of mine, Bill, the other day whom I was banged up with in 1972 in St Bernard's Hospital. He's on the dry now but he told me he has had several lapses since we left muttering that it was all going to be different tomorrow.
1985 August 24, Jeffrey Bernard, “Low life: High and dry”, in The Spectator, page 34Jessie J hasn't had an alcoholic drink since October 15, 2012. The 'Wild' singer can remember the exact date she last touched booze and claims she only ever drinks on very special occasions because alcohol leaves her lethargic and she worries it might ruin her career.
2013 July 13, “Jessie J on the dry since last October”, in Irish Examiner
Cite this entry
on the dry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20dry
“on the dry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20dry. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the dry,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20dry.
Source: on the dry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.