air-dry

IPA/ˈeə draɪ/
IPA/ˈer draɪ/

air-dry — verb

  • air-drypresent simple I / you / we / they
  • air-drieshe / she / it
  • air-driedpast simple
  • air-drying-ing form

1. To leave something so ordinary air removes its moisture, or for moisture to leav

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

To leave something so ordinary air removes its moisture, or for moisture to leave it naturally without extra heat.

Example

Mira hung the sweater outside to air-dry after washing it.

air-dry + object after washing

After the rain stopped, the picnic blanket air-dried on the fence.

[item] air-dried naturally outdoors

Common collocations
  • air-dry clothes
  • air-dry your hair
  • air-dry the paint
  • air-dry herbs
  • air-dry overnight
Synonyms
  • dry

    broader and can include heat, towels, or machines, not only natural air

  • hang-dry

    usually used for clothes and stresses hanging them up while they dry

  • drip-dry

    often used for fabrics left to dry while water drips off without pressing

Antonyms
  • soak

    means to make something very wet rather than removing moisture

  • moisten

    means to add a little moisture instead of drying

Grammar Patterns

air-dry + object

[item] air-dries

Usage Note

Often used for clothes, paint, clay, herbs, or similar things left to dry naturally instead of being heated by a dryer, oven, or machine. In transitive use, someone causes the drying; in intransitive use, the item itself becomes dry.

air-dry — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Air-dry, dry, hang-dry, and drip-dry all relate to removing moisture, but they focus on different methods. Dry is the broad everyday verb and can involve a towel, heat, sun, or a machine. Air-dry is narrower: it means letting ordinary air do the work, often with clothes, herbs, paint, or clay. Hang-dry is even more specific and usually refers to hanging clothes so they dry without a machine. Drip-dry is common for fabrics that can be left wet and allowed to dry while water drips away, often without ironing. If you leave a sweater on a rack by the window, you air-dry it; if you simply say you dried it, the method is not clear.

air-dry ↗dry ↗hang-drydrip-dry ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

Phrases

  • leave it to air-dry
  • allow it to air-dry completely
  • be air-dry

Prepositions

Etymology

English

Air-dry is a modern English compound formed from air and dry. The basic idea is simple: something becomes dry through ordinary exposure to air rather than through extra heat, a dryer, or another artificial method. From that process meaning, English also developed the adjective use for materials that have already reached that naturally dry state.