keep your powder dry

To be prepared to act with little advance notice. 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.

If you keep your powder dry, you remain ready to take action if necessary. He must keep his powder dry for the really important issues. Note: The powder referred to here is gunpowder. The expression comes from a story about the English leader Oliver Cromwell. He is said to have ended a speech to his soldiers, who were about to cross a river and go into battle, by saying: `Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry.'

Take care of yourself; be prepared. This phrase was uttered by Oliver Cromwell in 1642, when his regiment was about to attack the enemy at the battle of Edgehill. “Put your trust in God,” he told his troops, “but keep your powder dry.” Wet gunpowder was very difficult to ignite, and with it a soldier would in effect be unarmed. The term was transferred to other enterprises in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century it was sometimes used jocularly to mean a woman’s makeup (face powder).