`Watching paint dry' is (0) A term used to describe the witnessing of an incredibly boring event or situation. Typically, paint (1) ............ hours to dry, (2) ............ which time absolutely nothing appears to be happening. When painting the walls of a room, the paint should have dried enough for a second coat to be applied by the time all the walls have received one coat of paint. Actually, depending on the type of paint used, the length of the drying process varies considerably. Oil-based paint, (3) ............ consists of pigment particles suspended in a drying agent, (4) ............ as linseed oil, is slow-drying and can be manipulated (5) ............ brush many hours after it first touches the canvas. Water-based paint, (6) ............ the other hand, dries quickly, as do synthetic paints, which are most commonly used for painting interior walls. Paint is stored as a liquid and dries as a solid, and the conversion process (7) ............ these two physical states involves the chemical combination of a resinous binding agent and a diluent, like water. It is clear (8) ............ the expression is used to describe observing a very boring and uneventful process.