Dictionary

dry spell en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

Originated around 1885–1890, from dry + spell (“a period of time”). Compare cold spell.

Meanings

1. A drawn-out period where the weather has been dry, for an abnormally long time; shorter and not as severe as a drought.
   • The only place unaffected by the persistent dry spell was the city of Milwaukee […] 2003, Denise Gess, William Lutz, Firestorm at Peshtigo, page 42:
   • Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell / Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high 1989, Christopher Ward, David Tyson, “Black Velvet”, performed by Alannah Myles:
   • The rains, it seemed, were over, and a dry spell was upon them […] 1996, M.G. Vassangi, The Book Of Secrets, page 74:
2. (figuratively) A period or time where there is little activity, productivity, low income etc.
   • The first type is of course the dry spell when you can't think of any ideas. The second type is when kids just have a dry spell in writing. 1970, Gabriel H. L. Jacobs, When children think, page 31:
3. (figuratively) A period of time without sexual intercourse.
   • There's no telling when the serial dating bug can strike. You may be just getting out of a serious relationship, marriage, or long dry spell. But one thing's for certain: when it does it can become a really hard habit to break. 2007, Elina Furman, Kiss and Run, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 87:

Forms

Deriveds

dry speller

Relateds

petrichor

Translations (6)

pl posucha (drawn-out period where the weather has been dry, for an abnormally long time) · fr passage à vide (period or time where there is little activity, productivity, income, etc.) · hu szárazság (drawn-out period where the weather has been dry, for an abnormally long time) · es época de sequía (drawn-out period where the weather has been dry, for an abnormally long time) · pl posucha (period or time where there is little activity, productivity, income, etc.) · es racha seca (drawn-out period where the weather has been dry, for an abnormally long time)