go dry—(U.S. hist.) enact legislation for the prohibition of alcohol:
- The decision of the United States to go dry was a great social experiment.
run dry—
1. (of a river, well, etc.) be dried up; not yield water, etc.:
- What shall we do if the well runs dry?
2. (of a cow) be no longer able to provide milk:
- Most cows run dry in about ten months.
3. become exhausted:
- In 1797 the bullion in the Bank of England had almost run dry.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the nominal phrase dry run—a preliminary trial; a rehearsal for the real attempt:
- There is long, hard planning, endless training, repeated dry runs … behind undertakings of this magnitude.