dry runn.
/ˈdrʌɪ rʌn/, U.S. /ˈdraɪ ˌrən/ (In sense 2)Brit. /drʌɪ ˈrʌn/, U.S. /ˌdraɪ ˈrən/, /ˈdraɪ ˌrən/ 1. U.S. A creek or other watercourse that is usually dry, except after heavy rains; an arroyo (arroyo n.).Also occurring in place names (see quot. 1831).
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1779 in Reg. Kentucky State Hist. Soc. (1923) 21 62/1 William Murtry this day claimed a preemption to 1000 Acres of Land at the State price lying on a Dry Run a branch of Chaplin Fork on the Hunters Path.
1831 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 7 July From Selin's Grove, by Freeburgh..Waterloo, Concord and Dry Run to Fannetsburg, 78 miles and back, once a week.
1843 Indiana Palladium (Vevay, Indiana) 6 May Every member who asked for the survey of a pond or dry run, in his county, could have it.
1893 Harper's Mag. Apr. 697/2 Arroyos, or dry runs.., collect the storm waters.
1942 Sewage Wks. Jrnl. 14 1042 Certain state requirements as to a standard end product in the effluent through the state, without regard to whether the effluent discharges into a dry run or into an immense body of water.
1995 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gaz. 5 July 3 b/3 The city also discussed the need for a pedestrian bridge across the dry run on Fayette Street.
2. Originally U.S. colloquial. A rehearsal or run-through of a performance, presentation, procedure, etc.; a practice, trial, or dummy run.Quot. 1887 describes the practice of firefighters taking part in a competition to demonstrate skill and speed in responding to emergency calls, but without running water through the hoses; in contrast, a wet run was a similar demonstration with the use of water. See also quot. 1881 for practice run n. at practice n. Compounds 1a(c).
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the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > [noun] > an experiment > trial run
dry run1887
trial run1903
dummy run1916
pipe-openera1936
shakedown1958
1887 Watertown (N.Y.) Herald 25 June Hose & foot races..Watertown Fire Department [heading of article]... No less than fifteen, no more than seventeen men to each company. Dry run, standing start; each team to be allowed one trial; cart to carry 350 feet of hose in 50 foot lengths.
1944 Air News Yearbk. II. 18 There is long, hard planning, endless training, repeated dry runs..behind undertakings of this magnitude.
1958 Spectator 1 Aug. 167/1 A comedy series..needs the whole benefit of dry runs, ample film facilities, innumerable scriptwriters.
2015 Science 349 338/1 Operators may even perform a dry run with a duplicate rover on a sandy replica of the planet's surface.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2022).
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n.1779