Why solid carbon dioxide is called dry ice?

It’s a good question, really. Normal ice is just frozen water, yeah? When it warms up, it melts into a puddle of water. So it gets everything wet.

But dry ice is different. It's solid carbon dioxide. It doesn't melt into a liquid at all. It turns straight from a solid block into a gas. This process is called sublimation.

So, because it never makes a wet puddle, people call it 'dry' ice. It stays dry as it disappears. It's also proper cold, something like -78 degrees C