To cease speaking or writing.
1856. It may be an improper expression: perhaps it is not elegant: but we wish to make use of the following remark: we could desire that Mr. Philip James Bailey would ‘dry up.’—Knick. Mag., xlvii. 104 (Jan.).
1856. Our Hinglishman suddenly ‘dried up,’ and never opened his lips until the train arrived, late at night, at Albany.—Id., xlviii. 102 (July).
1865. With which modest contribution we “dry up.”—The Index, Feb. 2 (Farmer).
1865. Sum of your folks have got to dry up or turn our folks loose.—Bill Arp’s ‘Letter to Artemus Ward,’ Sept. 1.
1869. One enthusiastic disciple of Democracy [in Montana] came staggering out of a groggery and greeted me with, “Dry up, old (hic) blossom-top!”—A. K. McClure, ‘Rocky Mountains,’ p. 292.
