dry up

verb

1. intr to become barren or unproductive; fail

   in middle age his inspiration dried up

2. to dry (dishes, cutlery, etc) with a tea towel after they have been washed
3. informal.
   intr to stop talking or speaking

   when I got on the stage I just dried up

   dry up!

Example Sentences

Measure A would double the quarter-cent sales tax that voters approved in 2017 for homeless services and extend the tax indefinitely, ensuring that a major funding stream won’t dry up in a few years.

From Los Angeles Times

During a drought, rivers and lakes dry up and the soil gets scorched, meaning it hardens and loses plant cover.

From BBC

More than a century ago, when it became clear the booming metropolis 300 miles to the south would very quickly dry up its own meager water supplies, its agents fanned out across the Owens Valley, buying up every acre they could find to secure rights to the precious snowmelt that flows down from the mountains each spring.

From Los Angeles Times

Water is the eternal conundrum in this state, especially as climate change has diminished the summer monsoons and the Rio Grande and its tributaries slowly dry up.

From Los Angeles Times

The groups, led by Bring Back the Kern and Water Audit California, sued Bakersfield in 2022, arguing that allowing water diversions to dry up the river violates California’s public trust doctrine, the principle that certain natural resources must be preserved for the public.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abate
• curb
• curtail
• cut down
• decline
• depreciate
• deteriorate
• diminish
• drop
• drop off
• dwindle
• ease
• ebb
• fall off
• lessen
• lower
• reduce
• shrink
• sink
• slacken