How to Use bone-dry in a Sentence

bone-dry

adjective
  • Its births were triggered by rainfall in the bone-dry desert.
    — Abigail Tucker, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 June 2023
  • If your mum is bone-dry, give it a good soaking first, then place the plant in the hole.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 19 Nov. 2024
  • Then prop it up on its side until bone-dry to further guard against warping.
    — Alaina Chou, Bon Appétit, 17 Sep. 2024
  • But starting with bone-dry potting mix can frustrate your plant from the start.
    — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Dry spells offer no challenge at all to this native of rocky and sandy, bone-dry soils.
    — Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 16 Aug. 2024
  • If water continues to pool on top of bone-dry soil, then change the potting mix.
    — Rachel Gillett, Martha Stewart, 21 Jan. 2026
  • Then, a bone-dry second half of the year and sparse early winter snow left the landscape parched.
    — Time, 22 Aug. 2023
  • Allow the soil to go bone-dry before watering.
    — Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 11 Oct. 2025
  • But the bone-dry cabin air and the altitude can really mess things up.
    — Christopher Elliott, USA Today, 17 June 2025
  • And bone-dry vegetation means a new fire could ignite and any moment.
    — Brandon Miller, CNN, 23 Jan. 2025
  • This is Bungie executives trying to squeeze blood from a bone-dry stone.
    — Paul Tassi, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
  • Joy, even for something as stupid as bone-dry pant cuffs, is not typical Milhouse.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
  • The resulting wines range from bone-dry and structured to fruity, floral, and slightly sweet.
    — Emily Price, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
  • Stephen Freeland’s pumpkins are growing in 14 acres of bone-dry soil.
    — Asher Redd, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2025
  • The nose suggested white florals, but the wine was bone-dry, with structured tannins and a yeasty note.
    — Adam Erace, Travel + Leisure, 2 July 2026
  • The bone-dry air and meager plant coverage allows sunlight to heat up the desert surface.
    — Khristopher J. Brooks, CBS News, 19 July 2023
  • His mix of bone-dry humour and innate decency are the perfect foil for the film's welling emotions.
    — The Week Uk, theweek, 21 Nov. 2024
  • These microorganisms can endure extreme heat and bone-dry conditions for years.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 1 Jan. 2026
  • On a recent day, the culverts were bone-dry, the only rushing sound from the highway traffic nearby.
    — oregonlive, 9 June 2023
  • No chills, only thrills this Halloween as Phoenix is in for a warm, breezy and bone-dry holiday evening.
    — Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Bacchus, bone-dry, slumps in the center of a stagnant green pool clutching fistfuls of limp grapes; none of the fountains is turned on.
    — Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 5 June 2025
  • Strong Santa Ana winds and bone-dry conditions combined to heighten fire risks.
    — Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Jan. 2025
  • That has kept local vegetation bone-dry and highly flammable well into what is supposed to be the rainy season.
    — Nathaniel Rakich, ABC News, 15 Jan. 2025
  • Water rolled off the jacket during testing, and the fabric remained bone-dry to the touch afterward.
    — Grace Smith, People.com, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Hillsides were caked and brown, city streets were dotted with dead lawns, and wildfires raged throughout the state and region, feeding on bone-dry grass and shrubs.
    — Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
  • This tongue-in-cheek intro is indicative of the longtime comedian’s bone-dry brand of humor.
    — Rachel Brodsky, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2026
  • My hair comes out of each wash whisper-soft and moisturized, a far cry from the wiry, bone-dry mop I was forced to work with pre-Jupiter.
    — Jake Smith, Glamour, 22 Feb. 2023
  • The newcomers glanced at one another, then toward the turtles (still in their tank), and, finally, down at their bone-dry cups.
    — Marina Harss, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2025
  • The entrance is tucked next to some shelves on the top floor; the interior is bone-dry, and reminiscent of a magical sauna.
    — Sloane Crosley, Travel + Leisure, 1 July 2023
  • Between freezing air outside and bone-dry heat indoors, moisture gets zapped fast, leaving behind frizz, static, and ends that feel crunchy.
    — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 20 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bone-dry.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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