Dry-handed
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Having hands that are dry.
"She identified the dry grasp and the finger joints (both the Simpsons were dry-handed, and in the early stages of arthritis, so Dr Simpson had diagnosed)."
- 2 Old and withered, with connotations of lacking sexual potency or appeal.
"She went from the arms of the football captain to the dry-handed grasp of Mr. Depopolus, who'd retired from the faculty when she was twelve years old."
- 3 Empty-handed. archaic
""But since they commenced to turning folks away, off dry-handed, giving them nothing while folks were getting hungry, well then the federal government fixed the welfare."
- 4 Unarmed; lacking special equipment for fighting. obsolete
"'And now,' she said,'ye maun hae arms:ye maunna gang on dry-handed; but use them not rashly."
- 5 Snobbish; concerned more with social standing than actual worth. obsolete
"During the ensuing period of growth and change Barrington began to consider itself the seat of learning and culture and to look down its nose somewhat at the outer villages, which in turn accused Barrington of becoming "dry-handed" and altogether too high-minded as it turned from fishing to business and the land"
Example
More examples"She identified the dry grasp and the finger joints (both the Simpsons were dry-handed, and in the early stages of arthritis, so Dr Simpson had diagnosed)."
Etymology
From dry + handed.
More for "dry-handed"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.