Meaning & use

dehydrate

verb·Academic

To remove water from something, or to lose an unhealthy amount of water from the body.

See it in a sentence

The company dehydrates fruit to make lightweight snacks for hikers.

Athletes can dehydrate quickly during intense exercise in hot weather.

A note on using this word

In everyday health contexts, dehydrate most often describes the body losing fluids faster than it takes them in.

Words with a similar meaning

desiccate

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “dehydrate”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.