From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdry out phrasal verb1 DRYto become completely dry or to make something completely dry, especially after it has been very wet In summer, water the plants regularly and never let the soil dry out.dry something ↔ out The kitchen was flooded and it took ages to dry it out.2 dry (somebody) outMHDFD to stop drinking alcohol after you have become an alcoholic, or to make someone do this He’s been drying out at a private clinic. The hospital dried Michael out and sent him home. → dry→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
dry out• Cover the pastry with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out.• Hang your towel over the chair to dry it out.• Farmers will have to wait for fields to dry out before they can harvest their soybeans.dry something ↔ out• Be careful not to dry them out.• It should help dry the thing out.• The sun on the hills would dry me out.• We are still drying them out from a recent visit to the laundry.• It was hot, and the hills were brown and dry, laid out like a pile of kindling.• Ladle thinks that drying yourself out may be an effective antiparasite strategy, a way of purging the parasites from your body.• The lights I work under can get really hot and tend to dry it out so I have to be extra careful.dry (somebody) out• Be careful not to dry them out.• It should help dry the thing out.• The sun on the hills would dry me out.• We are still drying them out from a recent visit to the laundry.• It was hot, and the hills were brown and dry, laid out like a pile of kindling.• Ladle thinks that drying yourself out may be an effective antiparasite strategy, a way of purging the parasites from your body.• The lights I work under can get really hot and tend to dry it out so I have to be extra careful. 