Phrase guide
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
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
verb
To hold back on action until a future time; to save one's resources in case of emergency.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From the maxim trust in God and keep your powder dry, attributed to English statesman Oliver Cromwell; in the days of muskets, soldiers needed to keep their bags of gunpowder dry so they could load their guns at short notice.
