1.
to dry one's hair; to blow-dry one's hair
The standard collocation for drying wet hair after a bath or shower. The verb 乾かす is the causative 'to make dry,' and is used for any object that is actively dried (hair, laundry, etc.), as opposed to things that dry passively.
髪を乾かす。
I'll dry my hair.
ドライヤーで髪を乾かした。
I dried my hair with a hair dryer.
お風呂から出たら、すぐに髪を乾かしたほうがいい。
You should dry your hair right away after getting out of the bath.
髪が長いので、乾かすのに十分以上かかる。
My hair is long, so it takes more than ten minutes to dry.
Formed from 髪 ('hair [of the head]') + を + 乾かす ('to dry [something]'). Note the transitive/intransitive pair: 乾く means 'to become dry,' 乾かす means 'to make something dry' — the latter takes a direct object marked with を.
USAGE:
- Covers drying with a towel, a hair dryer, or simply by letting time pass; the means can be specified with で (e.g., タオルで, ドライヤーで).
- Does not inherently imply styling — for that, 髪をセットする or 髪をスタイリングする are used.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- ドライヤーで髪を乾かす: blow-dry one's hair with a hair dryer
- タオルで髪を乾かす: towel-dry one's hair
- 自然に髪を乾かす: let one's hair air-dry
- 髪をよく乾かす: dry one's hair thoroughly
RELATED EXPRESSIONS:
- 髪を洗う: to wash one's hair
- 髪をとかす: to comb one's hair
- 髪を切る: to cut one's hair / get a haircut
- 洗濯物を乾かす: to dry laundry — same verb used for other objects
TRANSITIVITY NOTE:
- 乾かす is transitive (requires an object + を).
- 乾く is the intransitive pair: 髪が乾いた ('my hair has dried').
- Learners sometimes mistakenly say 髪を乾く; the correct transitive form is 乾かす.