Wiktionary
n. 1 A powder found in a fire extinguisher that is expelled to smother the fire 2 (context finance English) cash (or cash-like securities) kept in reserve in case of need. 3 (&lit dry powder English)
Usage examples of "dry powder".
One carefully protected charge of dry powder might spark, but once that was gone it was hopeless to think of reloading in this rain.
Silent is the high forest, except for the faintest whisper of branches and breeze stirring the dry powder snow that lies on the heavier whiteness.
Snow had stopped falling, but dry powder blew close to the ground like shifting sand.
If I hurl the dry powder into the wind, the tiny particles cleave as they fall to the earth, waiting for the first rain to liquefy them and carry them down to the roots of the trees, which they will make immortal.
What was coming out of the pod was a living weapon in the form of a dry powder.
Quiet, so quiet, only sound their boots scrunching, squeaking in dry powder.
So the pair marched away from the small village, high-stepping on their bentwood-and-gut snowshoes, hearing the dry powder beneath their feet squeak with each step.