dry wine
Preserved but no longer current.
Opposed to sweet or fruity wine. In sweet wine some of the sugar is not yet decomposed ; m dry wine all the sugar has been converted into alcohol. In the same way we speak of a dry biscuit as opposed to a sweet biscuit.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “dry wine” mean?
Opposed to sweet or fruity wine. In sweet wine some of the sugar is not yet decomposed ; m dry wine all the sugar has been converted into alcohol. In the same way we speak of a dry biscuit as opposed to a sweet biscuit.
Is “dry wine” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.