Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A trial exercise; a rehearsal.
  • noun A test exercise in combat skills without the use of live ammunition.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun idiomatic A practice; a rehearsal.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a practice session in preparation for a public performance (as of a play or speech or concert)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

dry (in the slang sense of "impotent" or "harmless") + run. First attested in print in 1941, but apparently much older in spoken English.

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Examples

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