1
general::
Phrase(s): dry run
Fig. an attempt; a practice or rehearsal. • We had better have a dry run for the official ceremony tomorrow. • The children will need another dry run before their procession in the pageant.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
A trial exercise or rehearsal, as in Regard this as a dry run for tonight's ceremony. This term, using dry in the sense of "unproductive," was at first employed mainly in the military for simulated bombings in which no bombs were dropped. [c. 1940]
American Heritage Idioms