dryer

• drier

In both British and American English, the spelling drier is preferred for the comparative adjective and dryer for the noun.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹaɪɚ/, [ˈd͡ʒɹaɪɚ]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹaɪə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)

From Middle English driere, dreyere (“one who dries”), equivalent to dry +‎ -er (agent noun suffix).

dryer (plural dryers)

1. One who, or that which, dries; a desiccative.

   The sun and a northwesterly wind are great driers of the earth.

3. A household appliance that removes the water from clothing by accelerating evaporation, usually though heat and a tumbling motion.
4. An electric hair dryer.
5. Any other device or facility, household or industrial, designed to remove water or humidity.
   • 2004 December 17, Evgenii D. Moniushko, From Leningrad to Hungary: Notes of a Red Army Soldier, 1941-1946, Routledge, →ISBN, page 51:

     At that time, father, brother and I worked as night watchmen at the grain dryer. It was a large and complicated structure built out in the steppe. It consisted of a wooden tower with swinging shelves attached to the inside walls, […]

6. A catalyst used to promote the drying of paints and varnishes by oxidative crosslinking.

• (household appliance for drying clothing): clothes dryer, tumble dryer
• (hair dryer):

• (other drying device): dehumidifier

From dry +‎ -er (comparative suffix).

dryer

1. (US) comparative form of dry: more dry

• Derry, Ryder, derry, redry, ryder