A river inland, emptied and dry (4)
I believe the answer is:
arid
'dry' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'a river inland emptied' is the wordplay.
'river' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for river).
'emptied' suggests removing the centre.
'inland' with its middle removed is 'id'.
'a'+'r'+'id'='ARID'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for arid that I've seen before include "Rainless (region)" , "Dry and parched, as with regions" , "Dry and withered" , "Very dry, having little rain" , "Parched, waterless" .)