dryness
part of speech
noun (dryness — uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) Dryness is being dry, having little or no water or wetness. tree →
2) Dryness of skin, eyes or mouth is when they feel dry and uncomfortable. tree →
3) Dryness of humour is a quiet, serious-faced way of being funny. tree →
sense in the lessons
Science and geography: dryness of deserts and soil, drought. Health: dry skin, eyes and lips, drinking water. In writing, dry humour. Phrases: dryness of the soil, skin dryness, dryness of the air.
examples
- The dryness of the desert means few plants can grow. tree →
- The dryness of the soil showed we needed to water the beans. tree →
- Lip balm helps with dryness in winter. tree →
- The dryness of the air made my eyes itch. tree →
- Cacti survive dryness by storing water. tree →
- I liked the dryness of his jokes. tree →
- His very sorrow and melancholy did but increase the comic dryness of his sharply-cut features, and increased the laughter of the audience, who showered plaudits on their favourite. tree →
note
Uncountable. Spelling keeps the y: dry + ness (not «driness»), although dried and drier change it. Opposite: wetness, moisture, damp.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «dryness» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.