Dried for Dummies

Dried is a word we often use to describe something that has lost all or most of its moisture or liquid content. Imagine, for example, you've painted a lovely picture with watercolors and you leave it on the table to dry. After some time, when you touch the painting, the paint is no longer wet or runny, but instead feels hard and stiff. This is because the water in the paint has evaporated, leaving behind just the color and pigment. So, dried means that something has had the liquid or moisture taken out of it, leaving it in a more solid or less wet state compared to before.

Dried can also be used to describe food that has been prepared by removing its moisture. Let's consider raisins as an example. You know how grapes are nice, fresh, and juicy when you bite into them? Well, if you leave those grapes out in the sun for a long time, they become smaller, wrinkly, and chewy. These wrinkled grapes are what we call dried grapes, or raisins. During the drying process, the grapes lose their moisture content, transforming them from plump, fresh grapes into shriveled raisins. So, when it comes to food, dried means the same thing as it does for other objects - it signifies that the liquid or moisture has been removed, resulting in a different texture, taste, and appearance.