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DRYX

Motion diagram. A Deaf-recorded clip from the PopSign corpus (CC BY 4.0) exists for this sign and can be placed here.

Describing words·Level 2·Video corpus

DRY

dry

How to make it

Drag a hooked index finger ('X') across your chin from one side to the other.

Where the sign comes from

Unknown

No reliable source. We'd rather say so than invent one.

Wiping the mouth dry is the usual explanation; it is a reading, not a documented origin.

No sources — which is the point of the “unknown” tier. If you know of a documented account, the historical databases are where to check it.

The sign, taken apart

Every ASL sign is built from a handshape, a place it's made, and a movement. Learn to see these three and you can read and store any sign.

Handshape

Index crooked into a hook.

Also: letter X

Location
Chin

Made at the chin.

Movement
a straight path

One-handed.

Palm facing down.

Taught in

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