dry landn.
1. Land not submerged or under water; land as opposed to sea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > [noun]
landc900
groundOE
earthOE
dry landa1225
sandc1275
dry1382
continent1590
fastland1680
terra firma1692
region1697
firm land1872
a1225 Juliana (Bodl.) 77 And drof ham to drue lond in to champaine.
a1330 Otuel 444 Anon riȝt als roulond Hadde ikauȝt þe druye lond [etc.].
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. i. A And God called ye drye londe, Earth.
a1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis (1627) 3 God..discovered the face of the Deep, and brought forth Drie-land.
1892 S. R. Gardiner Student's Hist. Eng. 1 Animals could pass over on dry land.
2. Originally U.S. An area of low rainfall, esp. when farmed without irrigation. Cf. dry farming n. at dry adj. and adv. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > barren land or desert > waterless
droughta1000
dryheada1300
drynessa1398
carbuncle1577
jornada1828
thirst-land1878
dry land1893
thirst-country1895
thirst1906
dry1909
dust-bowl1936
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [adjective] > barren or desert > waterless
thirstya1425
carbuncled1577
unwatered1600
arid1656
starkc1740
thirstful1865
dry land1893
1893 [see Compounds 1b].
1910 W. Macdonald Dry-farming p. v To all those who believe in the dry-lands of the United States and the British Empire this volume is respectfully inscribed.
1910 W. Macdonald Dry-farming i. 34 They have already demonstrated..that the finest wheats are those grown on dry lands.
1964 TV Guide (U.S.) 27 June 12 Ken Curtis picked up the accent..as a boy in the dry-lands of southeastern Colorado.
1977 Observer 28 Aug. 4/1 The desert spreads like a skin disease, erupting..behind the margin dividing dryland from desert proper.
Compounds
C1. attributive.
a. Of or pertaining to dry land: land-.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [adjective] > barren or desert > waterless > relating to dry land
dry land1696
1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth iv. 253 The Generation of the Dry-land Animals.
1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. v. xxxiii. 340 Oxen, and other dry land Animals.
1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life xii. 179 No horse..that type of dry-land locomotion.
b. Of or pertaining to dry lands (sense 2 above); produced by farming without irrigation.
ΚΠ
1893 Irrigation Age Apr. 358/2 Nearly or quite every effort that has been made to establish a dry-land colony has ended in failure.
1917 Eye Opener (Calgary, Alberta) 6 Jan. 3/5 Jan Johnson and Katrina Jensen married and took up a dry land homestead.
1920 Harvey's Weekly 24 July 11/2 Vegetables—‘dry-land’ and irrigated.
1953 Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. June 241/2 Providing a market for dry-land cattle for finishing..and..bringing nearer to the dry-land farmer the superior service facilities of the..irrigation districts.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 6 Mar. 4/1 If we don't get rain in 30 days you can write off the dry-land wheat crop.
1985 Sci. Amer. Jan. 16/2 Broad acres of dryland grain invite machine harvesters.
C2.
dry-land farm n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > [adjective] > types of farming
all-organic1917
subsistent1934
organic1942
agribusiness1957
dry-land farm1976
1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 16 June 11 c/7 (advt.) 940 acres deeded ranch in Big Horn County... Has some good dryland farm ground.
dry-land farmer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun]
tiliec1000
acremanOE
husbanda1300
husbandmanc1384
farmer1528
breeder1547
farmeress1595
colona1640
agricole1656
georgic1703
agricultor1766
Farmer Giles1770
agriculturer1776
agriculturalist1788
culturist1814
fazendeiro1825
bartoner1832
agriculturist1849
culturalist1866
farmerette1901
dry-land farmer1914
drylander1921
Eurofarmer1957
multiplier1969
pick-your-owner1969
1914 ‘B. M. Bower’ Flying U Ranch 166 The soil was not fertile enough even for the most optimistic of ‘dry land’ farmers to locate upon it; and this was before the dry-land farming craze had swept the country.
1953 Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. June 241/2 Providing a market for dry-land cattle for finishing..and..bringing nearer to the dry-land farmer the superior service facilities of the..irrigation districts.
dry-land farming n. originally U.S. farming in dry lands (sense 2 above); a method of farming in which moisture conservation techniques are practised so as to avoid irrigation in arid or semi-arid areas; = dry farming n. at dry adj. and adv. Compounds 3 .
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the world > food and drink > farming > [noun] > types of farming
high culture1771
scientific farming1789
metaying1792
high farming1815
petite culture1848
sharefarming1857
urban agriculture1860
bush-farming1866
mixed farming1872
dry farming1878
co-aration1883
co-ploughing1883
smallholding1889
power-farming1913
dry-land farming1914
third(s)-and-fourth(s)1940
link system1950
green revolution1968
1914 [see dry-land farmer n.].
1973 B. Broadfoot Ten Lost Years iv. 38 My boy and I were farming near Manyberries and it was dryland farming. No irrigation.
1979 Nature 27 Sept. 251/3 Some good progress has certainly been made in research on dryland farming, largely aimed at reducing risks in cultivation in rainfed areas.
Derivatives
ˈdrylander n. chiefly North American one who has settled in a dry-land area, esp. one engaged in dry-land farming.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun]
tiliec1000
acremanOE
husbanda1300
husbandmanc1384
farmer1528
breeder1547
farmeress1595
colona1640
agricole1656
georgic1703
agricultor1766
Farmer Giles1770
agriculturer1776
agriculturalist1788
culturist1814
fazendeiro1825
bartoner1832
agriculturist1849
culturalist1866
farmerette1901
dry-land farmer1914
drylander1921
Eurofarmer1957
multiplier1969
pick-your-owner1969
1921 Frontier Feb. 11 It is good house. He build summer kitchen. None of drylanders have summer kitchen.
1943 J. K. Howard Montana 37 Neighbors helped themselves to the drylanders' abandoned house.
1963 Time (Canada ed.) 11 Oct. 16/2 At the Tivoli theater in Saskatoon last week, surviving drylanders could be heard telling youngsters: ‘That was the way it was’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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