bone-dryadj.
/ˌbəʊnˈdrʌɪ/, U.S. /ˌboʊnˈdraɪ/ 1.
a. Completely or extremely dry; entirely free from liquid or moisture. Cf. dry as a bone at bone n.1 Phrases 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > dryness > [adjective] > very
bone?a1300
for-drya1386
bone-dryc1480
siticulous1620
chippy1850
powder-dry1934
straw-dry1951
c1480 (a1400) St. Christina 182 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 403 Godis angel apperit sone, & hire in handis hynt in hy, held hire one lofte ban-dry.
1760 H. Glasse Servant's Direct. 6 Sope the Spots on both sides, and hang it in the Sun till bone-dry.
1806 R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads II. 238 They stow'd him up intill a seck, And o'er the horse back brook his neck; Syne birstled they him upon the kill, Till he was bane dry for the mill.
1850 H. Melville White-jacket i. 10 In a rain-storm I became a universal absorber; swabbing bone-dry the very bulwarks I leaned against.
1874 Bell's Life in London 10 Oct. 4/2 The dykes and ditches have been bone dry for months past.
1921 W. de la Mare Veil & Other Poems 1 From crock of bone-dry crusts and mouse-gnawn cheese.
1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–9 530/2 At one container exhibition, York light-heartedly moored a standard container at sea for a week. It was found to be bone-dry inside when retrieved.
2001 R. Isaacson Healing Land ii. 20 A faint smell of wood smoke, dust and cow dung was borne in on the bone-dry breeze.
b. Of a person: suffering from lack of water; very thirsty, longing for a drink. Cf. dry adj. 3a.
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1919 ‘B. Cable’ Old Contemptibles xvi. 268 They was like a good long drink to a bone-dry man.
1970 K. Pearson in H. Davies I knew Daisy Smuten xvi. 268 Gimme a drink. I'm bone dry.
1995 K. Fraser Pop. Anat. (1996) xxiv. 416 I was bone-dry so I ordered a glass of beer.
2. figurative.
a. Utterly dull or bland; devoid of interest, character, or emotion. Cf. dry adj. 13, 16, 17.
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1877 Times 27 July 7/2 Education would become emasculated into a system of dates and facts, a bone-dry education.
1891 Congregationalist (Boston, Mass.) 26 Nov. 9/4 [He] missed in his preaching tenderness, depth, passion... All is clear, but dry—bone-dry.
1934 A. G. Melvin Building Personality ii. 20 Students suffered under bone-dry teachers of history.
1965 Sports Illustr. 4 Oct. 49/2 She sticks to the bone-dry facts in her technical papers.
2018 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 17 Feb. e1 Such seemingly bone-dry subjects as net neutrality and civil asset forfeiture.
b. Of humour, comedy, etc.: characterized by a very matter-of-fact, deadpan, or ironic tone or style; extremely dry (dry adj. 14).
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1956 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gaz. 20 Mar. 24/1 Behind his funeral countenance and bone-dry humor, he had a deep, probing mind.
1975 C. Easton Search for Sam Goldwyn (1976) xxi. 234 Sherwood was a slow-speaking, soft-voiced man with a bone-dry wit.
1991 Vanity Fair Dec. 116/2 The humor is ironic, absurdist, bone-dry.
2013 Radio Times 9 Nov. (South/West ed.) 5/2 A smart, sharp and bone-dry comedy.
3.
a. Characterized by a complete lack of alcohol; spec. characterized by a total prohibition of the sale or consumption of any type of alcoholic drink. Cf. dry adj. 11a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > abstention from drinking > [adjective] > total abstinence > prohibition
dry1887
bone-dry1905
alcohol-free1913
Volstead1920
1905 Sunday Post (Boston) 2 July 22/7 Danvers is bone dry as far as the sale of liquor is concerned.
1916 N.Y. Times 29 Dec. 8/4 Oregon, we believe, has changed from limited to ‘bone-dry’ prohibition.
1929 Jrnl. Royal Afr. Society July 432 Is it proposed that the next Dinner of the African Society shall be compulsorily ‘bone-dry’, unlike all previous dinners? If not, what claim have we to lecture the African on his gin?
1940 Law & Contemp. Prob. Autumn 601 Local districts desiring to remain ‘bone-dry’ were to be guaranteed the privilege of local option.
2018 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 12 Apr. 25 If alcohol is such a font of misery, you'd expect bone-dry Saudi Arabia to top the league tables in all those world happiness indexes.
b. Of a person: abstaining completely from alcoholic drink. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > [adjective]
thirstyc950
ofthirstOE
athirstc1305
thirstinga1382
dry1406
thirstlewc1425
altered1596
adry1599
droughty1626
chapped1673
bone-dry1920
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > abstention from drinking > [adjective] > total abstinence
water-drinking?1616
hydropotic1623
teetotal1834
teetotalling1839
water wagon1889
on the wagon1906
temperance1907
pussyfoot1919
bone-dry1920
T.T.1922
1920 Independent (N.Y.) 9 Oct. 42/2 We [sc. the Prohibition party] appeal to the voters of America to put none but out-and-out bone-dry men on guard.
1924 N.Y. Times 15 June xx. 17/3 The Turks never were any more bone dry than we are today.
1982 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 15 Oct. The truth is Richard Harris is dry—bone dry. ‘I've just celebrated one year and one month on the wagon.’
4. Of an alcoholic drink (esp. wine) or its flavour: lacking any sweetness, very dry (dry adj. 8).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > qualities or characteristics of wine > [adjective] > not sweetened
uncuted1615
dry1699
sec1863
brut1891
bone-dry1935
off-dry1950
1935 New Yorker 25 Jan. 31/1 You can get..littleneck or cherrystone clams with a glass of bone-dry sherry.
1983 Washington Post (Nexis) 4 May e1 The drink at cocktail parties was not white wine but martinis—not bone-dry, but 3-to-1.
2011 S. Bell & S. Edwards Exploring Wine for Dummies x. 65/2 Some producers..make classic, bone-dry Pinot Blanc.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.c1480