on the dry

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on the dry

1. (idiomatic, informal, Britain, Ireland) temporarily refraining from drinking alcohol
   • 1985 August 24, Jeffrey Bernard, "Low life: High and dry" The Spectator, p.34:

     I bumped into an old mate of mine, Bill, the other day whom I was banged up with in 1972 in St Bernard's Hospital. He's on the dry now but he told me he has had several lapses since we left muttering that it was all going to be different tomorrow.

   • 2013 Robert Sellers, What Fresh Lunacy is This?: The Authorized Biography of Oliver Reed "A Date with Cronenburg" (Little, Brown Book Group; →ISBN) p.175:

     Then, maybe two weeks before cameras rolled, he'd put the blinkers on again and totally focus on it, and that included staying off the booze. 'I'm on the dry,' he'd announce.

   • 2013 July 13, Irish Examiner "Jessie J on the dry since last October"

     Jessie J hasn't had an alcoholic drink since October 15, 2012. The 'Wild' singer can remember the exact date she last touched booze and claims she only ever drinks on very special occasions because alcohol leaves her lethargic and she worries it might ruin her career.

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