Etymology
Origin of dry wash
First recorded in 1870–75
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.
A dry wash at the bottom is studded with old railroad ties, but otherwise looks like a good place to cross.
From Time • Jul. 21, 2017
A can of beans, sitting there in a dry wash!
From The Guardian • Mar. 1, 2017
Water typically runs off as sheet wash to stream channels called arroyos or a dry wash that may be dry part or most of the year.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017
Everyone knew the heavy, wet storms that settle over Mohave Canyon could turn the dry wash into a deadly river, but no one did anything to fix it.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2015
In wild terror, I ran along the bed of that dry wash, cut right up a sloping bank.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
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.
