Fordry

adj, verb

adj, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To dry up; become dry. intransitive
  2. 2
    To dry up; make dry. transitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    Very dry; withered. obsolete

    "1387-1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Squire's Tale. Amid a tree fordry, as white as chalk, As Canacé was playing in her walk, There sat a falcon o'er her head full high, That with a piteous voice so gan to cry, […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms

Example

More examples

"1387-1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Squire's Tale. Amid a tree fordry, as white as chalk, As Canacé was playing in her walk, There sat a falcon o'er her head full high, That with a piteous voice so gan to cry, […]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English fordrien, fordruien, fordruȝen, from Old English fordrūgian (“to become dry, wither”), equivalent to for- + dry.

Etymology 2

From Middle English fordruye, equivalent to for- (“very, excessively”) + dry.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.