Standard Lemma guide

fordry

adj · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Very dry; withered.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

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, [...]

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To dry up; become dry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To dry up; make dry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

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