adjective
Etymology
Origin of bone-dry
First recorded in 1815–25
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Allegra Goodman’s family saga coaxes, in Sam Sacks’s words, “excellent, bone-dry humor” out of the skirmishes and long-running battles among members of a loving, fractious clan.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
It’s dry but not bone-dry, a wine to please a wide range of palates.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025
At least four firefighters have been injured over the last week while battling three wildfires in Northern California forests that are burning amid extreme heat in steep, bone-dry terrain, fire officials said Monday.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 14, 2025
Officials believe the Palisades fire began around 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 7 as high winds sent flames racing over the bone-dry terrain.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2025
The place was mountainous, rugged and bone-dry, like a wasteland.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
