What's the origin of the phrase 'Keep your powder dry'? The allusion is to gunpowder which soldiers had to keep dry in order to be ready to fight when required.

" Trust in God and keep your powder dry " is a maxim attributed to Oliver Cromwell, but whose first appearance in print was in 1834 in the poem "Oliver's Advice" by William Blacker, with the words …

Stay alert, be careful, as in Go ahead and take on the opposition, but keep your powder dry. This colloquial expression, which originally alluded to keeping gunpowder dry so that it would ignite, has …

The phrase refers to gunpowder, which needs to be kept dry in order to work properly. I know this job opportunity didn't work out, but keep your powder dry for the next one that comes along.

Meaning of keep your powder dry in English keep your powder dry idiom Add to word list to wait before taking action, but be ready to take action if it is necessary:

Oct 31, 2025 · From the maxim “trust in God and keep your powder dry”, attributed to English statesman Oliver Cromwell; in the days of muskets, soldiers needed to keep their bags of gunpowder dry so …

KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY definition: to be ready to take immediate action in case a situation suddenly gets worse | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples