dryer

• drier (in both British and US English, drier is preferred for the 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; any device or facility employed to remove water or humidity, e.g. a desiccative

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

   • 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, […]

3. (most often) Short for clothes dryer, tumble dryer
4. (rare) Short for hair dryer
5. A catalyst used to promote the drying of paints and varnishes by oxidative crosslinking.

• (other drying device): dehumidifier

From dry +‎ -er (comparative suffix).

dryer

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

• Derry, Ryder, derry, redry, ryder