A dry cell is a galvanic electrochemical cell with a pasty low-moisture electrolyte. A wet cell, on the other hand, is a cell with a liquid electrolyte, such as the lead acid batteries in most cars. While a dry cell's electrolyte is not truly completely free of moisture and must contain some moisture to function, when it was first developed it had the advantage of containing no sloshing liquid that might leak or drip out when inverted or handled roughly, making it highly suitable for small portable electric devices.

By comparison, the first wet cells were typically fragile glass containers with lead rods hanging from the open top, and needed careful handling to avoid spillage. An inverted wet cell would almost certainly leak, while a dry cell would not. Lead-acid batteries would not achieve the safety and portability of the dry cell, until the development of the gel battery.

A common dry cell battery is the zinc-carbon battery, using a cell sometimes called the dry Leclanché cell, with a nominal voltage of 1.5 volts, the same nominal voltage as the alkaline battery (since both use the same zinc-manganese dioxide combination). Multiple cells are commonly connected in series within a single case or battery compartment within a device to form a dry battery (or dry cell battery) of greater voltage than is provided by one cell. A well known dry battery is the 9-volt "transistor radio battery" (PP3 battery) which is internally constructed of a standard stack of six carbon-zinc or alkaline cells, seven nickel-metal hydride cells, or three lithium cells.

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